New Syngenta corn enters US market
after the variety was approved by the nation's Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA).
Developed by Swiss biotech firm Syngenta, the variety is the stacked combination of the firm's new corn rootworm trait with its European corn borer trait.
The approval also allows Syngenta to launch its triple stacked corn that includes glyphosate tolerance.
The double stack, AgrisureTM CB/RW, will be available in limited quantities for the 2007 growing season and the triple stack, Agrisure GT/CB/RW will be available for 2008, said the firm.
"The approval of the stacked insect traits marks another milestone in our strategy to offer a highly competitive portfolio of proprietary biotech products to growers in the world's largest corn market," said Mike Mack, chief operating officer of Syngenta Seeds.
"As we scale up hybrid production over the next two seasons, this will enable Syngenta to drive growth and market share into the next decade," he added.
The registration follows the first EPA approval for the corn rootworm resistant trait in October 2006.
Syngenta said it also plans to offer the single and stacked traits for use in other leading seed brands through its GreenLeaf Genetics joint venture. The firm expects US Department of Agriculture (USDA) authorization to ship the double stack trait for the 2007 growing season.
The third largest business in the high-value commercial seeds market, Syngenta reported sales in 2005 of approximately $8.1 billion.
In October last year Group sales in the third quarter of 2006 increased by 1 per cent to $1.41bn, though at constant exchange rates (CER), sales were unchanged.
The company said earlier this year that Western European markets were affected by a late start to the season, which reduced cereal fungicide usage and by the progressive implementation of subsidy reform.
But the company, which also reported overall decreased sales for the first half of the year, is confident that growth will come on the back of newly launched products.
For the first nine months, sales of new products rose 20 per cent to $784 million. In the quarter, fungicides sales were higher following an inventory adjustment in the USA in 2005, though lower sales of selective herbicides reflected timing differences between the last two quarters.
