Nichino India Introduces Insecticide ‘Orchestra’ to Control Brown Plant Hopper in Rice

Nichino India, a subsidiary of the Japanese agrochemical company Nihon Nohyaku Co, has launched Orchestra to combat the rice Brown Plant Hopper, a pest that causes significant losses to farmers in the country. The new insecticide effectively controls the pest without hurting the beneficial insects.

"The majority of the products on the market now have resistance issues, and farmers tend to use more sprays for BPH control," said a Nichino India executive.

"Because of the constant use of BPH control products, the agroecosystem is severely harmed, affecting the population of beneficial insects such as spiders, ladybird beetles, and mirid bugs," he explained.

He claimed that the company's new active Benzpyrimoxan (BPX) worked effectively against the pest. "BPX works through a novel mode of action called Ecdysone Titer Disruptor," he said.

This product, dubbed Orchestra, controls BPH effectively and selectively while not harming beneficial insects, according to Tomooka Naohiro, Managing Director of Nichino India, in a statement issued on Thursday.

Orchestra was tested marketed during the recently concluded rabi season, according to M Bhale Rao, Director and Chief Technology Officer of Nichino India.

About Nichino India:

Nichino India Private Limited was founded in Balanagar, Hyderabad, in 1969. Initially, the Company produced industrial chemicals such as chlorinated paraffin and phosphoric acid. In 1971, the formulation of pesticides began. Chemicals and pesticides were also traded by the company.

Nichino Chemical Private Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary, was founded in 1993 as a backward integration project to produce Pesticide Technicals. In 1994, the manufacturing facility in Pashamylaram, Medak District, Andhra Pradesh, was inaugurated. Fungicide Carbendazim and Synthetic Parathyroid Cypermethrin were the first products manufactured.

In the year 2000, a dedicated R&D facility was established at the Balanagar facility with the goal of developing in-house synthesis capabilities as well as optimizing process technologies. Nichino India Private Limited established a formulation facility in Jammu in 2004 to meet the needs of the North while also reaping fiscal benefits.