Helios

Background

Intensive agriculture and monoculture are the cornerstones of our strategy to feed an ever growing population and the availability of arable land is shrinking steadily. This puts even more pressure to increase cropping intensity and productivity and as a consequence, to use even more chemical inputs. This can change soil texture and conditions ever so slightly in favour of a number of plant pathogens which are increasingly evolving to become resistant to even the latest fungicides. This results in a significant increase of the cost of production and reduced farm gate profits. Certain pathogens such as viruses and deep seated bacterial infections of crops are even more difficult to control.

Another problem is the initial success of any chemical bioicide with a novel mode of action attracts attention and encourages its large scale use with the unintended consequence of creating conditions for the evolution of resistance and even cross resistance by the target organism. Increased doses and costs followed by the introduction of even more expensive new products create a cycle of diminishing marginal returns to the farmer and deleterious effects to the environment.

It is increasingly observed that the p H of Indian soils is becoming alkaline. This is partly contributed by the unabated use of P fertilisers which tend to get bound to soil particles and get converted to insoluble phosphates, these in turn are responsible for a rise in soil pH. This leads to micronutrient deficiencies and loss of yields Reduced availability of micronutrients can contribute to increased incidence of disease.

Description

NEW HELIOS has been evolved keeping in mind the above constraints and requirements. The concept is to provide a new formulation of micronutrients which would be absorbed easily by the crop and prove effective at extremely small doses. The new formulation will hit the markets shortly, after securing regulatory approvals.

Since it is effective at such low concentrations, the possibility of bio accumulation in the environment appears to be remote. This has been further enhanced by a water based formulation that contains no petroleum solvents or additives.

Functions

1. As an integral part of our STEP system, it is used in situations where conventional remedies have not worked.
2. The increased bio availability of micronutrients due to our unique formulations enables crops to overcome deficiency symptoms rapidly and realize their complete yield potential.
3. This is prolonged further by the use of our soil amendments like Biovac which turn the soil conditions in favour of the crop.

Usage

• HELIOS is used as a foliar spray at the rate of 750 ml per acre and the dilution is 5 ml/ltr of water. It is recommended that our wetting agent EK BOOND be used in conjunction with Helios as a tank mix for better results.
• As a soil drench, HELIOS is recommended at a concentration of 10 ml/ltr of water.
• Field tests carried out on a number of crops show no phytotoxicity when used at the recommended doses.