Repar Corporation developed unique biochemical substance Maintain® CF 125 for Pineapple

Posted February 15, 2017

ReparRepar Corporation (“Repar”) has been involved in the development and marketing of agricultural products that are designed to protect human health and environmental safety. This company, located in Silver Spring Innovation Center (SSIC) in Maryland, USA, has developed a unique biochemical substance called Maintain® CF-125 (“Maintain®”).

Maintain is a Plant Growth Regulator (PGR) and contains the active ingredient Chlorflurenol, which is used to stimulate the growth of pineapple planting material or sliplets. As a PGR, Maintain is used to produce pineapple sliplets well over one year before the pineapples are harvested. The use of this product will not result in the accumulation of any residues in treated pineapples and is the only registered pesticide that is effective for rapid production of pineapple planting material. While Maintain is registered for use on a variety of sites; it is currently being marketed for the control of pollen and fruit on ornamental olives/citrus and for the production of pineapple planting material.

Maintain is used for the promotion for the production of slips and for the development of seeds for the new Gold varieties. The new sweeter Gold varieties are more susceptible to natural flowering than traditional Smooth Cayenne varieties. Management of natural flowering is the most important economic factor that affects the reliability of fresh pineapple production. Maintain® use allows the market to produce the gold variety pineapples lucratively and at a low cost which in turn reduces the cost of Gold variety pineapples to the consumer.

Formulation:

Maintain® is formulated as a liquid and contains 3.5 grams of active ingredient (chlorflurenol) per fluid ounce (3.5 g a.i. / fl.oz.) or (118 g a.i. / L).

Application Rates:

For the production of pineapple slips, the typical maximum application rate of Maintain® is 1.0 gal/acre. Maintain® at 1.0 gallon of active ingredient in 250 gallons of water per acre is typically applied to vegetatively mature 2-ratoon crops at time of forcing with ethephon.

Ethephon forcing must be applied before Maintain® application.

✔1 gallon is approximately equal to 3.8 L
✔1 hectare is approximately equal to 2.5 acres

The treated pineapple plants produce an average of 6 to 7 slips suitable for planting at approximately 6 to 8 months after applications have been made. The product can be applied to pineapple plants with two types of application equipment including air blast sprayers and ground boom sprayers.

Timing:

Maintain® applied to pineapple plants at the first flowering stage in concentration of 100 ppm yield most effective results,producing a significant increase in useful sliplets (>200 g weight two months after harvesting) without decreasing fruit weight and significantly reducing crown weight. Additionally, this can decrease the crop cycle by up to ten days.

Additional Applications:

A second application including ethephon forcing may be made at 5 to 7 days after the first application.

Concluding Remarks:

Maintain® is applied 6 to 8 months prior to desired planting of material. It serves as a critical component in producing high quality sliplets which will yield superior pineapple fruit in a cost effective manner. Maintain®-induced production of pineapple planting material is a unique phenomenon in agriculture and is superior to non-chemical alternatives such as stump sectioning and meristem tissue culture. It has been shown that the application of Maintain® results in the production of uniform and quality planting material which in turn contributes to the quality of the farm operations.

 

With regard to Maintain® CF-125 label and SDS, please visit: www.reparcorp.com and If you’re interested in the Maintain®, please contact info@reparcorp.com