Agrochemical firm Crystal Crop Protection has launched post-emergent herbicide Hola to help farmers protect sugarcane crops from weeds and increase their incomes in key producing States such as Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.
Holais tested in various State agri universities and more than 2,000 demonstrations were carried out in the last five years for sugarcane farmers.
Hola has been found effective in the control of narrow leaf weeds, broadleaf weeds and Sedges, especially Cyperus Rotundus (Motha), which is a major problem faced by farmers.
“We envisage, in near future, sugarcane will play a crucial role in Indian agriculture and economy. In this context, we are excited to present a new herbicide developed by in-house R&D team for the sugarcane farmers. It will support the sugarcane farmers in increasing productivity. We look forward to receive its patent soon,” said CS Shukla, Senior Vice-President (Strategic Marketing), Crystal Crop.
Growth plans
The company plans to make Hola available to cane growers in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Gujarat in the immediate future.
“As a nation, we incur losses of over ₹18,000 crore due to weeds in sugarcane and Hola will provide great relief to farmers who suffer losses due to various kinds of weeds in crop,” said Ajit Shankhdhar, National Sales Head, Crystal Crop.
The company plans to attain a market share of 5-6 per cent in the first year of launch and 12-15 per cent in the next couple of years. Hola is expected to increase the company’s topline by 3-8 per cent in the near future.
Driven by its in-house R&D, acquisition, and collaboration with international players, the company has launched 17 products in the last two years and is ready to launch six to seven more products shortly depending upon the grant of registration by the regulatory authority.