Sumitomo launches the world's first Epyrifenacil herbicide in Argentina, which works synergistically with Glyphosate

Sumitomo Chemical recently launched a new herbicide, Empera, in the Argentine market, taking Sumitomo Chemical's new self-developed molecule Rapidicil (Epyrifenacil), the company's third generation PPO inhibitor, designed to address the difficult weed problem in Argentina, Brazil, the United States and Canada.

Epyrifenacil invested $100 million in the development of the herbicide, which was formulated in the form of a cream at a concentration of 5.5%. Sumitomo Chemical's Southern Region Strategic Marketing Manager emphasized that Empera, as the first product in the world to incorporate Rapidicil molecules, marks an important milestone for the company in the global market and demonstrates its leadership in the agricultural technology sector.

Empera herbicides have the following significant advantages: 

• Widely used: can effectively control soybeans, corn, peanuts and other spontaneous crops and cruciferous plants of a variety of weeds.  
• Unique mechanism of action: The combination of contact and absorption, can quickly penetrate the plant body and achieve two-way movement, effectively eliminate weeds and prevent their regeneration.
• Flexible application: Suitable for a wide range of time Windows from fallow to pre-seeding.
• Strong control: It has excellent control effect on amaranth, a common harmful weed in Argentina.
• Highly selective: safe and harmless to crops such as soybeans, corn, wheat and cotton.
• Compatibility: can be used with other herbicides (especially glyphosate) to play a synergistic role.

In particular, Sumitomo Chemical pointed out that traditional PPO herbicides are difficult to control resistant Amaranth plant populations after crop emergence, and the application of Rapidicil molecules will change this situation and provide a new solution for the post-emergence management of Amaranth plants.

Over the past five years, Sumitomo Chemical has conducted more than 450 field trials, including more than 90 on Amaranth plants. The results showed that Empera was superior to other products in the market. The company said it is actively developing new products that combine different active ingredients, and Rapidicil molecules will be a key component of its future product line.

In addition, Sumitomo Chemical invests heavily in research and development, with more than 7% of its revenue reinvested in innovation each year, making it fourth in global patent acquisition and further consolidating its leading position in the agrochemical sector.