www.checkbiotech.org ; www.raupp.info ; www.czu.cz

A second wave of biotech-developed seed products is about to roll in. Look
for new glyphosate-tolerant technology and a rush of novel output traits
over the next 5 years, December 2006 by Andrew Douglas.

The first biotech seed products hit the stage amid much fanfare more than
10 years ago. Cheap and easy weed control via Roundup Ready soybeans proved
to be a runaway hit and today glyphosate-tolerant crops, which now include
corn, canola and alfalfa, are firmly entrenched in North American
agriculture. Bt corn has also been a winner, providing yield benefits and
effectively limiting the impact of European corn borer.

As the curtain rises on Act II of the agricultural biotechnology show, we
not only see new traits but a biotech industry that has evolved since
Roundup Ready soybeans and Bt corn hybrids first arrived. Seed genetics
companies ? the ones that do expensive lab work to discover novel traits ?
have rationalized and merged just as the chemical companies did. The
industry is controlled by 3 main players: DuPont (Pioneer Hi-Bred), Syngenta
(NK) and Monsanto (Dekalb). Those 3 companies develop most of the new traits
and license them to each other, smaller seed companies and public breeding
programs.

Perhaps it?s apropos that the first ?new? trait is more of a sequel than an
original ? it?s a new take on glyphosate tolerance, but it?s not coming from
Monsanto. Depending on whom you ask, Roundup Ready soybeans account for as
much as 75% of the soybeans grown in Ontario. Two years ago, Syngenta was
unable to come to terms with Monsanto and lost the right to license Roundup
Ready soybean technology.

Losing access to such a large number of acres was a big blow but Syngenta is
on the verge of resurrecting itself in that market. An intriguing
partnership with major competitor DuPont (and Pioneer Hi-Bred) has resulted
in a venture called Green Leaf Genetics, which has developed a new
glyphosate-tolerant trait that also allows sulfonylurea products to be
applied. It?s called Optimum GAT, with GAT standing for glyphosate and ALS
tolerant.

?It?s a different source of glyphosate tolerance,? says Don McClure, soybean
breeder with Syngenta. ?It?s the first non-Monsanto source.?

As the name suggests, the glyphosate-tolerant trait comes linked with
tolerance to some Group 2 ALS, or sulfonylurea herbicides. ?It?s a much
stronger, robust tolerance than the old STS soybeans provided, which could
be smoked by ALS herbicides,? says McClure.

Linking glyphosate with Group 2 herbicides is a reaction to the ?erosion of
control? that McClure and Dave Townsend, technical services manager with NK,
say farmers are witnessing in Ontario in Roundup Ready crops. Although
herbicide resistance to glyphosate has yet to materialize on a grand scale,
more acres of glyphosate-tolerant soybeans are being sprayed with multiple
applications of glyphosate. Higher rates are being used to get weeds like
dandelion that are not being controlled by a single application of
glyphosate at one liter per acre. Increasing uptake of Roundup Ready corn
hybrids is not going to help lessen the potential for resistance or weed
shifts that could prove problematic.

Optimum GAT won?t be limited to soybeans. The technology will be released in
corn too. Rachel Faust, communications co-ordinator with Pioneer Hi-Bred,
says the soybean trait will be submitted for registration any day and we may
see commercial use by 2009. Optimum GAT in corn will follow soon after.

Monsanto isn?t standing idly by. It has a new version of its Roundup Ready
trait waiting in the wings called Roundup RReady 2Yield due in 2009 or 2010.
No surprise, the primary benefit of the RReady 2Yield trait is in more
bushels per acre.

?We think we can get a yield increase of up to 5 bushels per acre over the
top-yielding Roundup Ready soybean varieties today,? says Dan Wright, trait
marketing manager for Monsanto. ?We have a better idea where to insert the
trait.?Also, Monsanto will be breeding the trait into earlier-maturing
soybeans better adapted to Ontario right from the get-go. That way the first
varieties to be registered will be adapted for more than just the highest
heat unit areas of Ontario.

Monsanto is also working on a trait that will allow Roundup and dicamba to
be sprayed over crops. This development is still a few years away. ?Some
areas want a mix of 2 different products for extended weed control,? says
Wright.

Syngenta is also reviving Liberty Link soybeans, which came and went a
number of years ago. With no activity on perennials and a higher per-acre
cost for the herbicide Liberty, Liberty Link soybeans couldn?t garner
support in competition with Roundup Ready packages. ?It seems to be the
right time to bring it back from a weed and crop management perspective,?
says Townsend. It?s a GM trait so it needs to clear some extra hurdles
before approval. It likely won?t be introduced until 2008.

So-called input traits aren?t the only new technologies waiting in the
wings. ?We have over 40 different traits, either in the market or that could
come to market, and our goal is to analyze them and decide which to launch,?
says Wright. ?We have to identify the biggest opportunities for Canadian
growers.?

Altering the composition of soybean oil is a major area of focus for all the
companies. Monsanto formed a partnership with Cargill called Renessen to
develop and market high-oil soybeans for the feed market. Syngenta has a
low-linolenic soybean due in the next few years and Monsanto is already
marketing low-lin soybean genetics under the brand Vistive. The target is
food processors looking to avoid trans fat.

[www.agcanada.com]

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