Monsanto and a subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company have reached a cross-licensing agreement aimed at launching SmartStax(TM), the industry's first ever eight-gene stacked (anti-weed as well as anti-pest) combination in corn.
"By bringing together...the trait technologies widely used in agriculture today, we can provide farmers an 'all-in-one' answer to demands for yield protection from weed and insect threats," said Carl Casale of Monsanto. "Farmers will have more product choices to optimize performance and protection, and that translates into a higher-yielding opportunity."
Under the agreement, the companies will create a novel seed offering that combines eight different herbicide tolerance and insect-protection genes into top-performing hybrids for the most complete control ever available. The product will include the companies' respective above- and below-ground insect protection systems; and the two established weed control systems, Roundup Ready(R) and Liberty Link(R).