Provide Environmentally Friendly Products and Services

Our mainstay product, AXEEV®, is a field crop herbicide that can be used for the world’s major crops, such as soybean, wheat and corn. AXEEV® was developed with the target that has better efficacy at one-tenth the dosage compared to conventional field crop herbicides. Nowadays, AXEEV® is selling well in the U.S., Brazil, Argentina, and other countries. Demand for AXEEV® is expected to increase as a low-carbon product that not only reduces environmental impact by reducing the amount of chemicals used but is also highly-efficient during manufacturing and transportation.

AXEEV® detail page

MAMETSUBU® is a water-surface application formulation for paddy rice that we developed independently. The size of common granules is about 0.8 to 1.2 mm, and when applied to paddy fields, they sink to the bottom of the water and the active ingredients gradually dissolve out of the granules. On the other hand, MAMETSUBU® has larger granules (3 to 8 mm in diameter), which float on the surface of the water and disperse and disintegrate in a short time when spread in the paddy field, allowing the active ingredients to spread throughout the paddy field. Conventional herbicides for paddy rice required 1 to 3 kilograms per 10 ares. However, MAMETSUBU® requires only 250 grams per 10 ares, about one-tenth the amount of conventional products. Not only is the time and labor required for application greatly reduced, but energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with the distribution of agricultural chemicals are also reduced.

Page of Innovation Case: MAMETSUBU

Microbial pesticides are biological pesticide that have been refined to function as pesticides by finding usable substances from bacteria and filamentous fungi that exist in nature and using proprietary culture and formulation technologies. In 2003, we began selling ECOHOPE, our first microbial pesticide, as a rice seed disinfectant. Subsequently, we launched ECOHOPE DJ, which can be stored at room temperature and has expanded the range of diseases to which it can be applied and improved the stability of its effects, and ECOSHOT, a horticultural fungicide with extremely low staining on fruit and excellent storage properties. Special cultivation that reduces the use of agricultural chemicals and fertilizers to 50% or less and environmentally-friendly IPM (Integrated Pest and Weed Management) have been attracting attention recently. Our KUMIAI ECO Series is chosen by farmers practicing special cultivation and IPM because it conforms to the Japanese Agricultural Standard (JAS) for organic agricultural products and is not counted in the number of active ingredients.

Page of Innovation Case: Microbial pesticides

There are two main methods of rice cultivation: transplanting and direct seeding. Among the latter, dry direct seeding is gaining attention in water-stressed countries due to its substantial water savings, as it involves sowing seeds directly into dry paddy fields and flooding the fields only after the seedlings are established. The paddy rice herbicide NOMINEE® is widely used in direct seeding for its high safety on rice is also for weed control, which is a problem in dry direct seeding.