Fortenza is registered and approved – Syngenta
New Delhi, May 31.2019: Responding to unfounded, and erroneous news reports alluding to some "ecological disasters" caused by its scientifically profound and government approved solution Fortenza, world's leading agri-business company Syngenta on Friday urged the Government of India to "rectify" its notification that has caused considerable confusion and given false ammunition to NGOs to trigger canards.
Fortenza is a highly effective insecticide used to contain maize crops pest Fall Army worm.
A section of media, referring to a government notification, reported that the solution is unregistered and untested” and “could result in ecological disorder”. This follows an inadvertent error in a Government Notification that mentioned that the product is not registered.
"We request the government to issue a corrigendum rectifying its order," said a release while putting forth facts to and clear any doubts that may have crept in.
The Fall Army Worm pest has caused heavy damage to the maize crop across the country over more than a year. Due to the National exigency caused by the Fall Army Worm infestation, the Department of Agriculture Cooperation & Farmers’ Welfare issued a notification, which recommends the product Fortenza Duo (Cyantraniliprole 19.8 % + Thiamethoxam 19.8% FS) to be used only on the maize crop for controlling Fall Army Worm. However, inadvertently, the said notification mentions that the product is not registered, and the same has been exaggerated by the newspaper.
Dr KC Ravi, Chief Sustainability Officer (Crop Protection Division) Vice President, Syngenta India said, “The said product namely Fortenza Duo (Cyantraniliprole 19.8 % + Thiamethoxam 19.8% FS) is invented by Syngenta and duly registered by the Central Insecticide Board & Registration Committee (CIB&RC) for use on corn crop in India exclusively for seed treatment. Syngenta is the original registrant of this insecticide. The active ingredients used in this insecticide have also been duly registered in our country for the last many years after thorough evaluation and rigorous scrutiny process as per the stipulated regulatory guidelines under the Insecticide Act, 1968.
After duly being satisfied with the aforesaid regulatory data, the Regulatory Authority, CIB&RC granted the registration of this mixture product vide 378th meeting of Registration committee held on 11th October 2017, informed Dr Ravi.
The said product has been approved by CIB&RC based on the submission of full set of regulatory data pertaining to different parameters viz., mammalian safety, eco-toxicity (including non-target animal e.g. birds, fish, honey bees, soil microbes, earthworms, etc); persistence & residue fate in soil, water & plants; product bio-efficacy by State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) and storage stability data generated from different climatic conditions of India. Hence, there should be No scope of undue speculation regarding any kind of ecological disorder.
It is pertinent to mention that safety of the product to humans, animals, environment, etc., has already been thoroughly scrutinized by the Regulatory Authority (CIB&RC) during the intense registration process, which includes exhaustive data generation and review of various end points w.r.t. to safety parameters.
Multi-location residue data has already proven that residue level of the said product at harvest are below detectable level of 0.01 ppm which is basically an analytical zero and there is no threat / impact on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. By default, there is a long waiting period between the timing of seed treatment / planting and harvest which proves dietary safety of this product from the consumer point of view, added Dr Ravi.
Thiamethoxam which is one of the partners of this product actually synergizes the efficacy against stem borer, aphids etc., without compromising on safety. It will be very pertinent to point out that the approved use recommendation as seed treatment does not impose any threat to honey bee since there is no direct exposure unlike in the case of foliar application treatments. More so, the insecticidal impact (seed treatment which provides 2-3 week control against FAW) to the crop gets reduced much prior to flowering / when effective bee foraging starts so there is there is no chance of any impact to bees. As explained above, the said product is having “full time permanent registration on maize crop” for use against multiple pests (Stem Borer, Shoot fly, Aphid and Cut worms).
The Government Notification is an emergency mechanism granted for the management of FAW and should be considered just as an “ad hoc label extension” based on multi-location bio-efficacy data generated from State Agricultural Universities (under ICAR system) as well as residue / dissipation data. The entire set of data was submitted to High Level Expert Committee formed by the Government of India as well as to the CIB&RC.
"Finally, we assert that Syngenta being a research based organization, has vast experience in managing the perils of this dreaded pest globally. In India too, Syngenta’s crop protection solutions have been helping farmers in successful mitigation of the havoc caused due to this pest," said Ravi.
“We, at Syngenta, are committed to contribute and help our Government as well as our farmers in steps to mitigate and control Fall Army Worm and, in this regard, we have been & continue working with farmers across the country by conducting training programs and educating them on the management of Fall Army Worm “, Dr Ravi further added.
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