DuPont’s James Borel, executive vice president, discussed growth priorities driven by key research advancements and product launches across the company’s Agriculture and Nutrition & Health segments at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2015 Global Agriculture Conference.
Borel highlighted near-term launches in corn by DuPont Pioneer, the advanced seed and genetics business of DuPont. DuPont Pioneer launched Pioneer brand Optimum Leptra corn hybrids in the southern United States in 2014 under a stewarded program. With the recent Chinese import approval of the Agrisure Viptera trait, DuPont Pioneer will expand its U.S. lineup of Optimum Leptra corn hybrids in 2015 and expects also to launch in Brazil for the 2015/16 Safrinha season, pending completion of field testing and applicable regulatory reviews.
DuPont Pioneer anticipates that the approaching launch of DP 4114 will help enable it to develop higher yielding corn hybrids and expand its triple-stack offerings to about half of its North American corn volume mix in the years following introduction. DP 4114 received cultivation approval in the United States and Canada in 2013 and will be tested in Pioneer’s IMPACT trial system in 2015. It is anticipated to launch in a stack configuration early in the second half of this decade, pending completion of field testing and applicable regulatory reviews.
In soybeans, DuPont Pioneer is making solid progress transitioning its North America soybean lineup to its newest Pioneer brand T series soybean varieties, which will account for about two-thirds of volume in 2015. This year Pioneer brand soybean varieties with the Roundup Ready 2 Xtend trait will be tested in IMPACT trials with first commercial sales anticipated as early as 2016, pending completion of field testing and applicable regulatory reviews.
