Dow Agrosciences Announces Insect Resistant Soy for South America

Dow Agrosciences recently announced that they have developed new insect resistant soybean varieties for South America and specifically for Brazil and Argentina. These new varieties are not only resistant to several herbicides; they are also resistant to the most common leaf eating worms as well.

The new soybean varieties contain three genes for herbicide resistance and they resist insect feeding by utilizing the Bt gene that has been widely used in corn hybrids for several decades. The new varieties will complement Dow's sustainable production systems that helps farmers manage hard to control herbicide resistant weeds.

According to Ramiro De La Cruz, president of Dow Agrosciences in Brazil, the new soybean varieties will not only have higher yields, they will also fit into a sustainable soybean production system. The new varieties have been submitted to the regulatory authorities in Brazil with the intent of commercial sales starting in 2016.

Once approved for sales, the new varieties will compete with Monsanto's Intacta RR2 Pro soybeans that are also insect resistant. Commercial sales of Intacta soybeans started this growing season and the company has enough seed available to plant approximately 9% of the 2013/14 soybean acreage in Brazil.