70 I EUROPEAN SEED I EUROPEAN-SEED.COM INDUSTRY NEWS TAILORED TO SEED PROFESSIONALS, INDUSTRY NEWS DELIVERS THE PEOPLE, RESEARCH, BUSINESS AND PRODUCT NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW. SUBMISSIONS ARE WELCOME. EMAIL US AT NEWS@ISSUESINK.COM. INDUSTRY NEWS Syngenta has entered into non-ex- clusive licensing agreements with Dow AgroSciences LLC and M.S. Technologies, L.L.C. for the Enlist E3 Event in soybeans in the United States, Canada and Latin America, and the Conkesta Enlist E3 stack in soybeans in Latin America, with options for global rights for both. In addition, Syngenta has entered into a non-exclusive licensing agreement with Dow AgroSciences for global rights for the Enlist event in corn, of which terms of the agreement have not been disclosed. Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. and Dow AgroSciences LLC announced they will collaborate to develop and commercialize a breakthrough improved wheat quality trait in North America. The collaboration leverages Arcadia’s non-GM TILLING trait development platform with Dow AgroSciences’ enabling technology plat- forms, high-quality germplasm and global commercial channels. Under the collaboration, the compa- nies will further develop and commercial- ize an improved wheat quality trait, which has completed initial field trials and is advancing to next-stage field trials. Dow AgroSciences will introgress Arcadia’s trait into its proprietary elite germplasm lines and manage all aspects related to the trait commercialization. Certain development costs will be co-funded under the collaboration agreement, and the commercial value will be shared by Arcadia and Dow AgroSciences. BUSINESS NEWS On Aug. 9, DuPont signed a definitive agreement to acquire San Francisco- based Granular, Inc., a provider of soft- ware and analytics tools that help farms improve efficiency, profitability and sustainability. Granular also operates AcreValue.com, a digital marketplace for farmland real estate. Sid Gorham, Granular’s co-founder and CEO, will con- tinue to lead Granular and will lead Digital Agriculture for DuPont, which includes responsibility for Encirca services, DuPont’s agronomic software business. With its focus on developing innovative solutions to help growers build strong, sustainable businesses, DuPont is cre- ating a digital agriculture ecosystem to support information sharing, services and commerce. This acquisition will enable the business to connect growers, analyt- ics and public and private data to advance our vision for a digitally connected, more sustainable agriculture industry. DuPont Pioneer (DuPont) and Evogene Ltd. announced July 26 they have entered into a multiyear collaboration. The scope of the agreement includes the research and development of microbiome-based seed treatments in corn. The goal of the collaboration is to provide farmers with innovative bio-stimulant seed treatment products that protect and maximize corn yield by leveraging each other’s relevant market-leading technologies. Under the terms of the agreement, DuPont will provide access to its exten- sive seed treatment application technol- ogy and product development expertise. Evogene will apply its predictive computa- tional biology platform to decipher plant/ microbiome interactions along with its microbial formulation and fermentation technologies. The combination of these key capabilities increases the opportu- nity to fully activate the potential of the emerging field of microbiome-based seed treatment products. Microbiomes are microbial communities that reside on or within the plant’s immediate microbial environment and play a significant role in plant health. Bio-stimulants are agri- cultural biologic products, which increase crop yield and resilience to environmen- tal (abiotic) stress by enhancing desira- ble plant characteristics and promoting efficient use of nutrient inputs. PEOPLE NEWS The Canadian Seed Trade Association welcomes its new president. Dan Wright of Monsanto Canada will be the 66th president of the CSTA. Wright has been involved with the CSTA for a number of years. In that time, he has served on the Board of Directors for two years and on the executive for three years. Wright has a strong connection to agriculture, a foundation that was laid in childhood at his family’s cash crop farm and farm equipment dealership. Wright contin- ued that connection in his career, and has worked for Monsanto Canada since 2000. Tropical vegetable seed company East- West Seed named Henk Hermans as new General Manager in the Philippines, effective 11 July 2017. Former General Manager of East-West Seed Philippines, Dr. Mary Ann Sayoc, has taken on a new role, representing EWS globally as Lead Public Affairs for the East-West Seed Group. Hermans brings over 20 years of management, marketing, and sales exper- tise gained in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.