Syngenta submits application for refuge-in-a-bag products

Syngenta Seeds, Inc., announced it has submitted to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) an application for the registration of its Agrisure Viptera 3220 E-Z refuge trait stack and its Agrisure 3122 E-Z refuge trait stack, both featuring a blended 5 percent refuge or "refuge-in-a-bag" component.

Once approved, the Agrisure Viptera 3220 E-Z refuge trait stack will offer growers dual modes of action on above-ground lepidopteran corn pests. This revolutionary stack includes the breakthrough Agrisure Viptera trait, featuring a completely new mode of action in corn with the first Vip3A insect control protein. The Agrisure Viptera trait is the industry's first "non-Cry" (non-crystalline) insect control protein. In addition, the stack contains the trusted and tested Agrisure CB/LL trait, the Bt11 event, which has been protecting corn from European corn borer for more than 10 years. The Agrisure GT trait for glyphosate tolerance and the Herculex I trait for corn borer round out this stack, which is designed specifically for areas where corn rootworm is either negligible or can be managed through crop rotation.

The Agrisure 3122 E-Z refuge trait stack will provide a 5 percent above- and below-ground refuge-in-a-bag option following receipt of EPA approval. Designed for areas requiring corn rootworm management, the trait stack features dual modes of action for both European corn borer and corn rootworm.

Agrisure Viptera technology is available for planting in 2011 in hybrids from the Syngenta seed brands of Garst, Golden Harvest and NK and is also being made available through licensing agreements with more than 150 local and independently owned seed companies. The technology was previewed in select areas this past summer at Syngenta field trials.

The Agrisure Viptera trait is approved for cultivation in the U.S., Canada and Brazil, and is approved for import into Australia, Canada, Mexico, the Philippines, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea.