UPL Ltd., a global provider of sustainable agriculture products and solutions, with the aim to revive the use of copper in agriculture has provided a path breaking solution – Cuprofix. The product is a combination of copper with a fungicide Mancozeb that not only arrests fungal and bacterial infections but also provides the treated plant with Sulphur, Zinc and Manganese, accelerating disease recovery.
The use of copper and its mixture is known to India since ages. The copper mixtures with sulphur, calcium or gypsum are a part of its agriculture for soil management and disease control. The positive ion of copper in the plant system, not only stimulates certain plant enzymes to trigger disease recovery, it also has a role in stopping bacterial infection by arresting their multiplication. In a nutshell this amazing metal is having a multiple role in agriculture beyond its ability to conduct electricity.
Copper application was a nightmare for farmers because of its poor solubility with water, weak spread on leaf, repeated nozzle clogging and sedimentation inside the spray tank. Fruits sprayed with copper retained a typical mark of copper spray making them unattractive for consumption and at times popping up copper residues. Even with its immense potential, the use of element copper was stagnated in Indian agriculture. It was at this point of inflection, when UPL innovated and launched Cuprofix for Indian farmers.
Cuprofix overcomes the major pain point of copper sedimentation in agriculture and provides a potent cost-effective tool for farmers. The use of a formulation technology called “Disperss” in Cuprofix increases the efficiency of spray tank and makes it one of a kind technology to be used in Indian agriculture. With the use of path breaking technology “Disperss” the nozzle of spray tank remains clean, the spray is uniform, the harvest is devoid of spray marks and the disease control is robust and uniform.
Mr. Ashish Dobhal, Regional Director, India Region, UPL commented, “We, at UPL, are dedicated to the welfare and prosperity of the farmers who are our key stakeholders. Through innovation, we aim to provide sustainable products to farmers that improve their lives financially. Cuprofix with its path breaking Disperss technology will be a game changer for the industry in terms of cost effectiveness and disease control”.
Mr. Joy Tilak Deb, Asset Manager, Cuprofix commented, “UPL is recreating the habit of natural control of agricultural diseases by Indian farmers with cutting edge innovations like Cuprofix. Having more than 870,000 Acres treated with Cuprofix across various crop segments over the last two years, there is enough reason to rejoice at the adoption level by farmers and see them repose their faith back on copper.”