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Cotton Advancements Flowing Through Technology Pipeline: Monsanto and Bayer CropScience

Cotton Advancements Flowing Through Technology Pipeline: Monsanto and Bayer CropScience

Higher U.S. cotton prices have launched the financial rebirth of a struggling industry now giddy about profit prospects for the next few years. Cotton seed companies have a technology-filled pipeline aimed to meet the increased interest with improved lint yields and fiber quality, plus better insect and weed control.

The cotton pipeline is chocked full of the latest technology, according to two leading cottonseed researchers. Dave Albers, Monsanto’s U.S. cotton germplasm manager, and Kenny Melton, Bayer CropScience (BCS) senior regional cotton agronomist, sat down with Western Farm Press during the companies’ respective cotton field days in central Arizona in October.

Albers, based in St, Louis, Mo., says Monsanto’s new pipeline developments focus on improving cotton farmers’ profitability.

“We are ready to continue to improve yield and quality for growers across the Cotton Belt,” Albers said. “We opened up a new breeding facility in Casa Grande (Ariz.) that has helped us enforce the long history of Delta and Pine Land’s breeding program in the West.”

Deltapine’s (DP) Upland varieties DP 164B2RF and DP 1044B2RF are the top planted varieties, respectively, in Arizona this year. Albers predicts DP 1044B2RF will outpace DP 164B2RF as the No. 1-planted variety in Arizona next year.

The popular varieties will eventually yield to improved seed including the experimental variety 11R159 which Albers touted during field tours.

“11R159 offers great yield and fiber quality under Arizona growing conditions,” Albers said.

Other Monsanto technology in the pipeline includes cotton breeding to target the root knot nematode (RKN). The insecticide Temik is largely used in Arizona to target RKN, but the phase-out of the product has farmers concerned about the impact of Temik-less RKN control in the future.

“Monsanto in its strategic breeding and trait breeding is looking at a number of ways to enhance the root knot nematode tolerance in cotton varieties,” Albers said.

New RKN traits could be on the market by 2014. Albers says breeding RKN solutions are faster to implement than transgenic solutions requiring regulatory approval.

In weed management, Monsanto’s Dicamba and Glufosinate-tolerant (DGT) cotton is at the phase three test level. DGT cotton would be Monsanto’s first three-way stack of herbicide-tolerant technology including Roundup Ready Flex. A 2015 or 2016 launch is possible depending on regulatory approval.

“DGT cotton would provide three in-plant herbicide tolerances for the Cotton Belt with more modes of action to manage through glyphosate resistance especially in difficult to control weeds including palmer amaranth.”
GM insect resistance

Genetically-modified insect resistant Bollgard III is in the pipeline which would add the VipCot gene developed by Syngenta to the current Bollgard II formula for improved Lepidopteron pest control. Adding the Vipcot gene to Bollgard II offers a new mode of action and protein to help avoid resistance in the bollworm, budworm, and Lepidopteron families to Bollgard and other proteins.

On water, the company is exploring drought tolerance and water use efficiency from several angles including a transgenic route. Monsanto has several strong leads.

On Pima cotton, Monsanto currently has about 1 percent of the Arizona Pima extra-long staple cotton market (10,000 total acres statewide this year). The company has several Pima Roundup Ready Flex lines in development for California and Arizona which are in University of California and University of Arizona field trials this year.

One line includes a tolerance to Race 4 fusarium wilt, a soil-based fungus and a growing threat in San Joaquin Valley cotton fields. The Race-4 tolerant Pima variety could be commercially available in 2013.

Bayer’s Kenny Melton covers the Southern High Plains of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. He shared information about upcoming Upland varieties in the company’s Stoneville and FiberMax cotton lines, plus research underway.

This year, Bayer sold a limited amount of its new FM 2989GLB2 variety; a mid-to-full season cotton with excellent fiber quality. It will be widely available next year. The GLB2 gene stack includes GlyTol, LibertyLink, and Bollgard II.

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