Traits to Tackle Worms
Bt Soy Debuts in South America
DECATUR, Ill. (DTN) -- South American soybean insects are in the crosshairs. Dow AgroSciences has announced it is incorporating two genetically engineered traits into soybeans that will provide in-plant control against pests such as fall armyworm, velvetbean caterpillar, soybean looper, sunflower looper, tobacco budworm and soybean podworm.
The soybean event expresses the Cry1Ac and Cry1F proteins, the same combination that Dow includes in PhytoGen Widestrike insect-protected cotton varieties. According to Dow spokesperson Kenda Resler-Friend, the technology will be marketed in Brazil and Argentina within the next three to five years, pending regulatory approval. Once approved, Dow intends to broadly license the technology to other seed companies.
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Earlier this year, Monsanto announced final regulatory approvals had been received and a commercial official launch of a single gene Bt soybean containing Cry1Ac. Branded Intacta RR2 PRO, the technology will be initially be sold by Monsanto and other seed licensees in Brazil and eventually, in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay in coming seasons. A second-generation, multiple-trait soybean is in Monsanto's pipeline that expresses dual modes of action. Monsanto declined to reveal what Cry proteins will be included in that offering.
Neither company has indicated an intention to market Bt soybeans to U.S. growers. "Should U.S. soybean farmers be challenged by pests for which our insect-resistant soybean product could be a solution, we will consider how to meet customer needs with our innovation," Resler-Friend told DTN through email correspondence.
Southern soybean growers do struggle with lepidopteron pests. However, Bt traits in corn and cotton cover a good portion of the southern landscape. Entomologists have already registered concerns about insect resistance to the Bt traits. Although most pest populations have remained susceptible, five pests have evolved field resistance to Bt globally, compared to one pest in 2005: African maize stem borer in corn; fall armyworm in corn in Puerto Rico; pink bollworm in cotton in India; and western corn rootworm in U.S. corn. There's an ongoing debate over whether cotton bollworm in the U.S. has developed lab or field-level resistance.
Resler-Friend noted that as part of a global regulatory process, Dow's dual-trait product has been submitted to regulatory agencies for approval in Argentina, Brazil, EU, Canada and the United States with submissions to additional import countries planned for the coming months. Upon receiving regulatory approvals, Dow intends to offer the dual soybean-insect-resistant traits as a stack with the company's Enlist soybean traits in elite and high-yielding varieties.
Pamela Smith can be reached at pamela.smith@telventdtn.com
(CZ/SK)
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