Syngenta and Kyoyu Agri partner on innovative rice herbicide
- New active ingredient Cyclopyranil effectively controls weeds resistant to common herbicides
Basel, Switzerland / Tokyo, Japan, 12 October 2026 – Syngenta, the global leader in agricultural innovation, and Kyoyu Agri Co. Ltd, a leading Japanese agrochemical manufacturer, today announced a strategic collaboration to bring high-performance herbicide solutions based on the active ingredient Cyclopyranil, which is a novel active ingredient developed by Kyoyu Agri, to selected rice markets across Asia.
Highly effective even at low application rates, Cyclopyranil is Syngenta’s first herbicide for rice based on the protoporphyrinogen oxidase (PPO)-inhibiting mode of action (Herbicide Group 14). It controls a wide spectrum of broadleaf and grass weeds upon contact – including weeds that have developed resistance to herbicides with different modes of action, such as ACCase and ALS herbicides. Cyclopyranil can act as a pre- or post-emergent herbicide, offering farmers greater flexibility.
“As herbicide resistance spreads, the effective toolbox of options available to rice farmers is steadily dwindling,” said Ioana Tudor, Syngenta Crop Protection’s Global Head of Marketing. “At Syngenta, we are committed to reversing this trend by delivering the next generation of innovative solutions, and our collaboration with Kyoyu Agri will bring farmers new breakthrough tools to overcome resistance, protect their yields, and ensure a productive future for rice farming.”
“Bringing our proprietary technologies to the global stage is a key milestone for us,” says Masakazu Yamada, President of Kyoyu Agri. “I believe that this innovative herbicide created by Kyoyu Agri, will be made widely available across Asia through Syngenta’s robust distribution network. With this advanced solution, we will focus our efforts on helping rice farmers overcome expanding weed resistance, secure their harvests, and reduce the burden in their daily operations.”
Herbicide-resistant weeds are spreading in rice fields across the world, and researchers have documented more than 190 cases of herbicide-resistant weeds in rice production systems globally. Barnyard grass (Echinocloa crus-galli) is widely considered among the most troublesome, outcompeting rice for vital resources and aggressively absorbing nutrients, while mimicking rice and thwarting early identification and removal efforts.
Under the agreement, Syngenta will market products based on Cyclopyranil across a number of countries in Asia.
Contact Information
Media Relations
About Syngenta Group
Syngenta Group is the world’s largest agricultural technology (AgTech) company by revenue, employing approximately 50,000 people across over 90 countries. Syngenta Group is focused on creating Breakthroughs for farmers, in every field™, so they can make the transformation required to feed a growing world population while preserving our planet. Guided by its Sustainability Goal of higher yields with lower impact, Syngenta Group’s bold scientific discoveries deliver better benefits for farmers and society on a bigger scale than ever before. Syngenta Group is ranked number one in crop protection, number one in biologicals and number three in seeds based on revenues.
Syngenta Group, which is registered in Shanghai, China, and has its management headquarters in Switzerland, draws strength from its four business units: Syngenta Crop Protection, headquartered in Switzerland; Syngenta Seeds, headquartered in the United States; ADAMA®, headquartered in Israel; and Syngenta Group China.
For Syngenta Group photos and videos, please visit the Syngenta Group Media Library.
To find out more about how Syngenta Group creates breakthroughs for farmers around the world, read our stories and follow-us on social media.
Data protection is important to us. You are receiving this publication on the legal basis of Article 6 para 1 lit. f GDPR (“legitimate interest”). However, if you do not wish to receive further information about Syngenta Group, just send us a brief informal message and we will no longer process your details for this purpose. You can also find further details in our privacy statement.
Syngenta Group’s Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This document may contain forward-looking statements, which can be identified by terminology such as “believe,” “anticipate,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “will,” “may,” “should,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “continue” and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning Syngenta Group’s future expectations, plans, prospects, objectives, performance or events, including statements attributed to individuals quoted in this document, whether or not they use such terminology. Such statements are based on current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by them. They are not guarantees of future performance, and readers should not place undue reliance on them. For Syngenta Group, such risks and uncertainties include, amongst others, risks relating to legal proceedings, regulatory approvals, new product development, increasing competition, customer credit risk, general economic and market conditions, refinancing risk, interest rate fluctuations and access to capital markets, compliance and remediation, evolving environmental and sustainability regulations, changes in agricultural policies or subsidy regimes, intellectual property rights, implementation of organizational changes, impairment of intangible assets, consumer perceptions of genetically modified crops and organisms or crop protection chemicals, climate change and extreme weather events, fluctuations in exchange rates and/or agricultural commodity prices, supply chain disruptions, including risks arising from single-source supply arrangements, geopolitical risks, trade restrictions, sanctions, and export controls, natural disasters, and cybersecurity incidents, data breaches, and failures or disruptions of information technology systems. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this document. Except as required by applicable law, Syngenta Group undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, changed assumptions or otherwise.
© 2026 Syngenta. All rights reserved.
®/™ are Trademarks of companies belonging to the Syngenta Group.
