BASF launches Seletio platform at TecnoShow 2024

BASF unveiled an innovation with its FiberMax cotton seed brand during TecnoShow 2024, accompanied especially by AgroPages. 

The major launch is the Seletio technological platform for weed management in cotton cultivation. According to BASF, this innovation was "developed especially to meet the needs of Brazilian cotton growers".

"The platforms work by combining various components that, when working together, provide significantly superior results," the multinational company said.

Within the Seletio platform is the new herbicide Durance S, which controls the residual effect and is highly effictive on difficult-to-control grasses, such as Eleusine indica. Durance S is a selective systemic herbicide, based on the active ingredient Isoxaflutole, belonging to group F2 (mode of action of carotenoid biosynthesis inhibitors – HPPD) and the chemical group Isoxazoles. 

It is predominantly absorbed by the apical meristem of seedlings and roots, characterized by the symptom of leaf depigmentation caused by chlorophyll photodegradation. According to BASF, it provides "excellent pre-emergent control for the main weeds in cotton culture tolerant to isoxaflutole.

Another platform pillar is the Seletio TwinLink Plus biotechnology, present in the seeds to offer tolerance to the herbicides Glyphosate, Liberty, and Durance S. Furthermore, this biotechnology provides control of the main cotton pests, through Bt proteins Cry1Ab, Cry2Ae, and Vip3A. "This is our biggest launch in cotton seeds in recent years," comments Valeska de Laquila, FiberMax product manager at BASF.

According to her, the farmer "Will be able to count on a complete platform that offers selectivity, long-lasting control, and flexibility. This facilitates complete weed management, directly competing with cotton in the field."

Boosting agriculture in the Midwest region of Brazil was the focus of BASF's innovations at TecnoShow 2024. Each harvest season, management challenges intensify, mainly under the influence of climatic phenomena such as El Niño and La Niña, expected to be active in Brazil from the year’s second half. Therefore, technology investment should be a priority within the farm gates, said Graciela Mognol, Marketing Director for the Soybean Cultivation System at BASF.

"We know that the 23/24 harvest was and is complex, and farmers may doubt the next cycle. But productivity is not possible without new technologies, and that is why BASF invests in developing the best solutions for farmers," she said in conclusion.

(Editing by Leonardo Gottems, reporter for AgroPages)