Monsanto Enters Soy Partnership With DuPont, Team Up With Sumitomo Chemical on Weed Controls
28 June 2016 --- Monsanto has announced two new partnership deals. The company is to license one of its next-generation soybean technologies aimed at helping farmers protect against pests and grow yields in Brazil to US chemical giant DuPont. Monsanto has also teamed up with Japanese chemical company Sumitomo Chemical to develop future weed control technologies and solutions.
The licensing deal with DuPont involves Monsanto's Intacta RR2 PRO soybeans, which are aimed at increasing yields and protection against major pests that attack soybeans and tolerance to glyphosate herbicide.
The licensing deal will involve royalty payments made to Monsanto, though no particular financial details have been disclosed.
“DuPont Pioneer looks forward to bringing the Intacta insect technology together with leading soybean genetics to Brazilian growers as early as the 2017 selling season,” said Alejandro Muñoz, DuPont pioneer vice president, Global Commercial Business.
“The combination of technology, genetics, and DuPont Dermacor® seed treatment will help advance the productivity of soybean growers while providing enhanced insect control and strengthening their integrated pest management practices.”
“We’re pleased we have been able to reach an agreement with DuPont for Intacta RR2 PRO™ technology in Brazil,” said Mike Frank, Monsanto vice president, chief commercial officer. “This agreement further endorses the value of our Intacta RR2 PRO™ platform, which has achieved rapid grower adoption and is providing an important new choice in insect control and convenience to growers in South America.”
The deal with Sumitomo Chemical cements an existing relationship between the US and Japanese companies which have previously collaborated on weed management initiatives in South America.
Under the new agreement, Monsanto and Sumitomo Chemical will work together to create an integrated system of germplasm, biotechnology and crop protection that they believe will be at the forefront of the new generation of weed control solutions.
Monsanto has a pipeline of herbicide trait upgrades in its research and development pipeline which are designed to help with weed control in the future. This includes PPO-herbicide tolerance traits, which are in the early phases of research and development.
Sumitomo Chemical has been developing a new generation PPO (that has shown broader spectrum control with application flexibility that has the potential to enhance current and future weed control systems.
The partnership will see Monsanto and Sumitmo Chemical team up in the development, registration and commercialization of Sumitomo Chemical’s key PPO chemistries including its new generation PPO herbicide for over-the-top and conventional herbicide application use in Monsanto’s future generation weed management systems, as well as conventional applications for certain other crop uses.
The new generation PPO herbicide is expected to be available within brands offered by both companies.
“I’m really excited about Sumitomo Chemical’s next generation weed control technology,” said Robb Fraley, Monsanto executive vice president and chief technology officer.
“This next-generation PPO herbicide has remarkable broad spectrum effect against both grass and broadleaf weeds, which will make it an excellent, complementary addition to the Roundup Ready® platform. The product’s low use rate, together with a unique mode of action effective against resistant PPO weeds, will be valuable to corn, soy and cotton growers.”
Ray Nishimoto, Sumitomo chemical representative director & senior managing executive officer, president of health & Crop Sciences Sector, said, “This collaboration combines the strength of Monsanto to discover and develop herbicide tolerance traits with Sumitomo Chemical's world-class discovery program for new crop protection products that are highly effective for sustainable weed management.”
