Monsanto's Intacta RR2 Pro™ Poised To Deliver A New Wave Of Benefits For South American Countries

Monsanto Company announced that its INTACTA RR2 PRO soybean products are now a step closer to delivering a new wave of benefits to farmers throughout South America and poised to further bolster the preservation of natural resources in one of world’s leading biodiversity hotspots.

Monsanto noted that it has now completed all regulatory approvals in South America markets including Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. The company has also obtained food safety approvals in more than 40 countries and regions globally including Australia, Canada, Colombia, European Union, Japan, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Taiwan, and the United States. China’s import approval for the product’s food, feed and processing use is currently pending.
Monsanto noted that it is working towards a commercial introduction of the new soybean technology to local farmers in Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay in the coming seasons.

During the last two growing seasons, farmers in Brazil have been able to test this next-generation soybean technology through the Ground Breakers™ program.

The program provides farmers with the opportunity to gain first-hand experience with pipeline products under stewarded commercial-scale planting conditions.
In 2012, INTACTA RR2 PRO soybeans were planted by 500 Brazilian farmers who tested the products in their fields and compared them with other soybean varieties commonly grown in their region. The fields planted with INTACTA RR2 PRO varieties realized a productivity advantage, when compared with current commercial products, of 6.59 bags per hectare – equivalent to 5.88 bushels per acre.

Mr. Paulo Roberto Fiatikoski, a Brazilian soybean farmer from the city of Piracanjuba, in the State of Goiás, was one of the farmers that planted INTACTA RR2 PRO on farm. “In my farm, the INTACTA RR2 PRO field reached a productivity of 65.8 bags per hectare against 55.2 bags per hectare registered with Roundup Ready 1 varieties. It’s a huge difference. In my opinion, this new technology developed by Monsanto is more than welcome,” says Mr. Fiatikoski.

Demand for agriculture products is expected to continue to increase as our world’s population grows from 7 billion to 9 billion people in the coming decades. Today, it is estimated that China purchases approximately 60 percent of total soybeans that are traded globally. In addition, approximately 60 percent of China’s total soybean imports are produced by Brazilian and Argentine farmers.

Agriculture’s ability to increase its productivity on each acre of farmland while simultaneously supporting the reduction of the environmental impact of food production is paramount to ensuring the long-term sustainability of the global agriculture system.

“INTACTA RR2 PRO soybeans are expected to deliver a new range of agronomic benefits to farmers and represent a big opportunity for the South American market,” said Rodrigo Santos, Monsanto Brazil president. “Importantly, this new soybean technology provides a new way that farmers can get more yield out of each hectare of land, a critical step as farmers work to meet the growing food, feed and natural resource demands of our world.” 

The introduction of new higher-yielding agriculture products, such as INTACTA RR2 PRO, is also expected to contribute to preserving our world’s biodiversity.

“We need a diversified set of tools to protect biodiversity and avoid deforestation across our region. The agriculture industry’s ability to boost productivity of existing farmland is one of these essential tools,” said Fabio Scarano, Ph.D., Senior Vice-President for Americas of Conservation International.

“Sustainable intensification of land use in areas that have been cleared in the past for production purposes is a key step to avoid further deforestation and to protect the biodiversity that underpins the natural services that are vital for people to thrive,” Scarano noted. “In other words, we can aim for zero deforestation on the planet if, among other things, productivity is intensified on existing agricultural land.”