Syngenta Thrive - 3Q/2013 - 20

foolproof, such as crop rotation, have proved futile in regions
where corn rootworm variants, which overwinter in ﬁelds and
survive on non-corn crops, have emerged.
As Jill Wheeler, a Syngenta product lead for commercial traits,
explains, corn rootworm is “a condition to be managed—not a
problem to be solved,” which is why a new mode of action like the
Agrisure Duracade trait has become so necessary. “The industry has
never seen this level of efﬁcacy in a corn rootworm trait,” Wheeler
says, referring to a USDA study that reports a 99.79 percent
reduction of adult beetle emergence in Agrisure Duracade corn—
higher than any current rootworm trait on the market.1 In addition,
the launch of a trait with technology preservation in mind is a ﬁrst;
Agrisure Duracade, available to growers in 2014, will always be
paired with the Agrisure RW trait to provide two modes of action
against corn rootworm.
For long-term management of corn rootworms, Syngenta
also has introduced science-based agronomic recommendations that will help mitigate risk and maximize crop
productivity. To view these recommendations, go to
www.farmassist.com/crw.
Rethinking Water
When hybrids with Agrisure Artesian water-optimization technology
were planted in 1,107 in-ﬁeld trials last year, no one knew that the
summer of 2012 would become synonymous with the worst
drought in decades.
Duane Martin, Ph.D., a Syngenta product lead for commercial
traits, witnessed the extent of the drought’s devastation while driving
between Indianapolis and central Illinois, as the ﬁelds ﬂanking
Interstate 74 were parched and dry. “The conditions were horrible,”
he says, recalling how he visited ﬁve ﬁelds and was unable to ﬁnd a
single ear of corn. It wasn’t until he arrived at his destination—a plot
containing hybrids with Agrisure Artesian technology—that he ﬁnally
walked beside rows of fully developed corn.
Data from these and other 2012 plots showed that under severe
and extreme drought conditions,2 hybrids with Agrisure Artesian
1. Source: Hibbard et al. 2011. “Mortality impact of Bt transgenic maize roots expressing eCry3.1Ab, mCry3A,
and eCry3.1Ab plus mCry3A on Western corn rootworm larvae in the ﬁeld.” J. Econ. Entomol. 104(5): 1584–1591.
2. For this research, Syngenta deﬁnes a yield environment of 50 to 99 bu/acre as “severe” and fewer than
50 bu/acres as “extreme.”

Syngenta scientists
Eric Chen and Hope
Hart in a greenhouse
at the Syngenta
Innovation Center in
Research Triangle
Park, N.C.
PHOTOS: (THIS PAGE) TONY PEARCE; (OPPOSITE PAGE) JOHN SIBILSKI

In Pursuit of Cleaner Soybean Fields
Sometimes, the development of novel trait
solutions requires the resources and efforts of
more than one company. A new soybean product
featuring tolerance to multiple herbicides is one
such instance.
To help growers in their ongoing battle
against problematic weeds, Syngenta has

18 · thrive · 3Q/13

partnered with Bayer CropScience to develop a
trait that will provide tolerance to mesotrione,
glufosinate and isoxaﬂutole (MGI)—the active
ingredients in Callisto®, Liberty® and Balance®
herbicides, respectively.
Today weed control in soybeans is no longer
easy, says Brett Miller, technical product lead

for Syngenta. “Because of weed resistance, a
grower can’t adopt any single technology or
strategy to solve the weed problem,” he says.
“With MGI herbicide-tolerant soybeans,
growers will have another important tool to
manage weeds—and with meaningful residual
control and application ﬂexibility.”

Syngenta Thrive - 3Q/2013

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