Intacta 2XTend soybean launched in Brazil: Interview with Natália Carvalho from Bayer

Date:06-16-2021

By Leonardo Gottems, Reporter for AgroPages

The new soybean, Intacta 2 XTend, which was commercially launched in Brazil on Thursday, 10th June, is a third generation technology for controlling not only the main caterpillars that attack the crop, such as Helicoverpa and Spodoptera, but also major weeds, because the new soybean produced by Bayer is resistant to glyphosate and dicamba herbicides.

AgroPages exclusively interviewed Natália Pagotto Carvalho (Intacta 2Xtend Launching Manager at Bayer Crop Science).

Why will the official commercial launch only happen months after the technology was introduced to Brazilian customers?

This is great news. Without a doubt, this launch was made possible after we received authorizations from major importing countries. Firstly, it was China, which approved it in June 2020, followed by the European Union (EU) in January 2021. So, we are ready for this launch, which will take place officially on 10th June.

We released the product in China in June last year, so we already have these two approvals to support the official commercial release for the 2021/22 harvest, and farmers who choose to plant Intacta 2Xtend can market this grain, which can then be sent to China without any problems.

What are the features of Intacta 2Xtend? Why should Brazilian producers bet on this new technology?

Above all else, Intacta 2Xtend comes with a productivity ‘footprint.’ This new biotechnology is the most advanced in the market today, and it is the second launched outside the United States (US), which is very interesting. The first launched in the US was the Intacta RR2 PRO, which was also released in the Brazilian market, reinforcing that fact that Bayer is strongly  committed to Brazilian agriculture.
 
We prioritize productivity and our technology has other benefits in terms of preventing weeds and combating against caterpillars that attack soybean crops. It is an advanced technology, the most advanced available on the market today and was launched to ensure productivity farmers.

Do you also plan to publicize the product to the general public?

From the point of view of Intacta 2Xtend, our keywords are science and transparency. Therefore, we have been working based on these two pillars consistently for this launch and always focus on our audience, the farmers, who are the main beneficiaries of this technology from the start.

Without a doubt, biotechnologies, such as Intacta 2Xtend, which aim to increase productivity, highlight Bayer’s commitment to achieving sustainable agriculture, adopting digital solutions and focusing on data to improve decision-making. We always offer solutions that are innovative, sustainable and digital, so farmers can achieve their goal to feed the entire population of the planet.

Under this science and transparency ‘footprint,’ we are working with many academics and experts, and our intention for this platform is to not to leave relevant knowledge at home, we want to share them with the entire chain. Therefore, before and after the launch, we have intensified our efforts significantly. We have organized training initiatives as part of the launch, including digital sessions due to the current conditions preventing us from meeting in person, to share our knowledge with the entire soy chain.

What is the regulatory situation with China? Will the product be fully released or do you still have a deadline to meet?

We, at Bayer, follow very important guidelines covering global regulatory practices, so we will not release if we are not sure that the markets will offer the correct regulatory approval. I am confident that the launch will happen this week and seeds will be available to farmers for planting in the 2021/22 harvest. If there are any issues, we will not launch it, so farmers can buy the product in 2021 to harvest and sell in 2022.

China's release took place in June 2020, so it has been almost a year since this release. In January, the approval of the EU arrived, which is another important market. All markets have already been approved.

What solutions are being prepared to accompany the launch of Intacta 2Xtend?

Intacta 2Xtend is the focus of this launch, but we also offer three Xtend Refuge varieties, so  farmers have options and can engage sustainable practice, to ensure the longevity of this BT biotechnology, which is also a very important milestone.

In addition to Intacta 2Xtend, we offer Xtend Refuge, and our Dicamba, Xtend Dicam, Dicamba with DGA salt and Xtend Protect, which is an adjuvant. These products come with the platform and are part of a range of solutions for farmers, enabling them to make choices, as part of the 2X release.

We have experimented with the technology in over 500 areas over the last two years across Brazil, so we are reinforcing our current relationships with selected clients. Only Bayer has launched a program of this magnitude, which closely connects our customers. With the launch, we are expanding the technology to the market.

Among those chosen that were able to experiment, in the previous 20/21 crop season, we can saw that Intacta 2Xtend took 3.25 bags more than its major market competitors, so I think this is an option that will help farmers.