Corteva announces breakthrough in wheat technology

In advance of its Investor Day, Corteva announced a revolutionary breakthrough in one of the world's most important staple crops – wheat – a first-of-its kind, proprietary non-GMO hybrid technology. While other crops like corn have exponentially benefited from hybrid technology over the years, challenges with wheat production systems have presented barriers to consistently and cost-effectively leveraging such game-changing technology – ultimately limiting the ability to deliver meaningful yield improvements.  

Corteva's breakthrough hybrid wheat technology could:

• Increase yield potential by 10%¹, while using the same amount of land and resources, providing significant promise for both farmers and global food security;

• Be more resistant to drought: research trials show Corteva's hybrid wheat can yield roughly 20% higher² than elite varieties in water-stressed environments, which would help farmers better adapt to the impacts of a changing climate.

• Accelerate the speed to market of new elite germplasm by increasing the scale of parent seed production over competitors' technology.

"Pioneer introduced hybrid corn in the 1920s, and since then our technology has helped achieve more than 600% increases in average yields³," said Corteva Chief Technology and Digital Officer Sam Eathington. "With our new, one-of-a-kind proprietary technology for wheat, we're now similarly poised to bring the revolutionary benefits and yield potential of hybridization to yet another core crop."

Hybrid seeds are created by crossing two genetically different parents – to ultimately produce more resilient, higher yielding plants for farmers. Unlike other wheat hybridization systems which rely on older technology, Corteva's all-new proprietary technology has been shown in trials to work in 100% of wheat germplasm -- enabling more rapid genetic gains and delivery of seed at a commercial scale.

Cultivated for over 10,000 years, wheat is grown on about 550 million acres, providing food for hundreds of millions of people and accounting for 20% of calories consumed worldwide. Wheat is the third largest row crop In North America, grown on more than 60 million acres.

Corteva plans to launch hybrid Hard Red Winter wheat as early as 2027 in North America, adding to its portfolio over time.

¹ Internal yield trial testing; 2 years of testing with 6-10 locations/year in each of the market classes. Hard Red Winter testing in NE, KS, CO, OK.

² Internal yield trial testing; 2 years of testing with 6-10 locations/year in each of the market classes. Hard Red Winter testing in NE, KS, CO, OK.

³ Assumes average corn yields in the 1920s of roughly 26 bu/A (according to the Plant & Soil Sciences eLibrary at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln) and average corn yield in 2023 of roughly 183 bu/A (according to USDA data) and yields on Pioneer corn hybrids commonly reaching 200 bu/A and more.