Dow AgroSciences, Arcadia Biosciences and Bioceres, S.A. have agreed to develop and commercialize innovative soybean traits. According to the companies, the collaboration leverages Dow AgroSciences’ technology, regulatory expertise and commercial seed capabilities with a leading soybean abiotic stress platform and unique grower relationships in South America represented by Verdeca LLC — a joint venture between Arcadia and Bioceres.
“Soybean farmers are looking for productivity, and this collaboration holds great promise for the technology we can offer them,” says Tim Hassinger, Dow AgroSciences president and CEO. “Our own expertise, combined with Arcadia’s leadership position in abiotic stress traits and Bioceres’ strong relationship with large soybean growers, presents a unique opportunity for greater yields.”
Under the collaboration, the companies will develop new soybean traits using Dow AgroSciences’ EXZACT Precision Technology platform to generate soybean trait stacks. These stacks will combine Verdeca’s agronomic performance and product quality traits with Dow AgroSciences’ herbicide-tolerant and insect-resistant traits.
“As more traits become available to be integrated into superior seed products, seed companies and trait collaborators face the challenge of deploying these solutions in a time-effective and cost-efficient manner,” says Federico Trucco, Bioceres CEO. “This collaboration will help us meet this challenge by deploying validated agronomic and crop protection technologies through the EXZACT platform, precisely stacking traits, which could speed-up technology integration.”
This advancement comes at a time when soybeans are grown on more than 110 million hectares (271 million acres) globally and are the world’s fourth-largest crop. Growth in global population, combined with more people joining the middle-class in countries such as China and India, creates an ever-increasing demand for dietary protein from soybeans.
