First approval worldwide of BASF Initium for wine and vegetables

Romania was the first country worldwide to authorize Initium products. Registration came at just the right moment, since wine growing in Romania is currently undergoing profound changes – Romanian winegrowers aim to establish themselves in the European market by improvements in quality. The innovative fungicide product will help the winegrowers to move over more quickly to profitable, high quality production.

In addition to the Initium product for grapes, which will be available in Romania from 2010 onwards under the name Enervin™, authorization was also granted for Zampro™, an Initium-based fungicide for the specialty crops potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers and onions. Both products were extensively tested in field trials and showed high selectivity and efficacy against late blight and downy mildew. “Because of the very favourable environmental profile of Initium, the products were authorized in the record time of four years,” said Roland Ringel, Head of the Initium Global Development Project. And in fact, Initium products are not only in high degree environmentally compatible, they are also very user-friendly – they dissolve rapidly and dust-free in water, thus saving time and ensuring extra safety.

With the registration in Romania, BASF has reached an important milestone in its growth strategy for Central and Eastern Europe. Initium products will complement the portfolio alongside other modern compounds like the recently launched Cabrio Top, a multi disease fungicide for grapes. Next to Enervin™, Cabrio Top is expected to become a driving force in plant protection for grapes in Romania. As early as 2010 Romanian wine and vegetable growers can benefit from BASF’s comprehensive range of sustainable crop protection solutions. Forecasts indicate that Central and Eastern European countries such as Romania, Bulgaria, Russia and Ukraine will drive market growth in Europe during the next years. The crop protection market in Romania is expected to more than double over the period from 2007 to 2016. “Romanian farmers want to compete successfully on the European market. For this reason there is a great interest in innovative technologies”, said Michael Hess, Head of Central Europe Crop Protection. “Our highly effective and environmentally compatible crop protection products will enable winegrowers and farmers to produce high yields and healthy crops with only minimum residue levels in accordance with EU regulations.” Initium products are expected to be registered in the Netherlands and Great Britain in the first half of 2010. Other European countries will follow.
 
About the Crop Protection division
With sales of €3.4 billion in 2008, BASF’s Crop Protection division is a leader in crop protection and a strong partner to the farming industry providing well-established and innovative fungicides, insecticides and herbicides. Farmers use these products and services to improve crop yields and crop quality. Other uses include public health, structural/urban pest control, turf and ornamental plants, vegetation management, and forestry. BASF aims to turn knowledge rapidly into market success. The vision of BASF’s Crop Protection division is to be the world’s leading innovator, optimizing agricultural production, improving nutrition, and thus enhancing the quality of life for a growing world population. Further information can be found on the web at www. agro.basf.com.
 
About BASF
BASF is the world’s leading chemical company: The Chemical Company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics and performance products to agricultural products, fine chemicals and oil and gas. As a reliable partner BASF helps its customers in virtually all industries to be more successful. With its high-value products and intelligent solutions, BASF plays an important role in finding answers to global challenges such as climate protection, energy efficiency, nutrition and mobility. BASF posted sales of more than €62 billion in 2008 and had approximately 97,000employees as of the end of the year. Further information on BASF is available on the Internet at www.basf.com.