Farmers invest in seed treatments because they’ve seen the benefits: seed treatments provide their crops with strong, healthy starts, which maximize early season growth for greater yield potential at harvest. DuPont is doing their own investing in the seed treatment area with the goal of improving current seed treatment offerings and growing their crop protection services for the future, said Mick Messman, global director for DuPont Seed Treatment. Here’s what Messman said customers and collaborators can expect in the months and years to come.
Q. Let’s start by talking about what DuPont’s Seed Treatment enterprise offers today.
A. “DuPont has been in the seed treatment business for many decades, but we’ve been developing proprietary products for just the last four years. In that short time, we’ve delivered three critical seed treatment products for farmers in Canada and the United States.
Our first product on the market was Lumiderm™, an insecticide welcomed by canola growers in Canada. Market acceptance of Lumiderm™ has been strong as multiple seed companies now include the flea beetle and cutworm treatment in their offerings.
This planting season, growers in eastern Canada were able to utilize the insecticide Lumivia, a corn seed treatment. From the reports we’re getting, it’s well received in its first year on the market.
Lumisena™, DuPont’s next generation fungicide seed treatment, offers protection for U.S. soybeans against Phythphora and downy mildew in sunflower crops. It will be available to growers in the fall of 2017 for the 2018 spring planting season. Lumisena™ demonstration plots are showing excellent results across a wide region.
We expect to continue building on those offerings, with several other treatments in early to mid-stage development. They will be added to DuPont’s portfolio in the coming years.”
Q. Why do farmers choose to use DuPont’s Seed Treatment products?
A. “We are in a unique position. We understand the seed business, and we understand seed applied technology and the critical role it plays in complementing the seed, thanks to our DuPont Pioneer brand of products. That perspective brings added value to the crop protection segment—something that’s important to our farmer customers both within our seed brand and other seed brands.”
Q. What will govern DuPont’s future investment and growth in seed treatments?
A. “As DuPont continues to innovate, we’ll rely on the core competencies that have delivered results—market-driven science, collaboration and technique of assembly.
We pride ourselves on understanding our customers’ needs and signaling those back to our DuPont Crop protection discovery team. We’ve made significant investments that position us as a leader in market-driven science, including broad scale testing in multiple environments and the creation of treatment packages that let growers experience the best available products.
DuPont collaborates with both seed and technology companies and devotes time and attention to assembly techniques by investing in their laboratory and application center facilities.
We will continue to invest in discovery, development and, new product launches and build on our existing infrastructure.”
Q. How will a pending merger between DuPont and Dow impact DuPont’s Seed Treatment Enterprise?
A. Our commitment to crop protection is strong and has the potential to become even more dynamic once the proposed merger between DuPont and Dow is finalized. This is a unique industry that continues to grow and we’re excited to be a part of it.
