Monsanto to Use BASF Fungicide to Maximize Cotton Performance

BASF on Wednesday said one of its key active ingredients will be used in Monsanto’s seed treatments in North America.

BASF reached an exclusive supply agreement with Monsanto Co. for fungicide seed treatments for cotton and soybeans in North America. Monsanto’s next generation Acceleron Seed Treatment products for soybeans and cotton will contain F500 — the same active ingredient found in Headline fungicide — and the innovation Xemium fungicide, which is expected to be registered by the US Environmental Protection Agency in 2012.

“Farmers choose Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans and Deltapine brand cottonseed for their proven yield advantages” said Tom Schaefer, Monsanto’s marketing manager for Acceleron seed treatment products in a statement. “These additions to the Acceleron Seed Treatment Products line can help those seeds emerge strong and yield strong.”

Under the agreement, Monsanto’s Acceleron seed treatments for soybeans and cotton will contain BASF’s F500 – the active ingredient in its Headline fungicide – as well as BASF’s Xemium fungicide, which it expects the US EPA to clear in 2012.

Monsanto will have exclusive rights to commercialize the new seed treatments. Monsanto’s global seed treatment platform complements the company’s seed and trait strategy, as well as its investments in breeding and biotechnology.

Details on how strong stand establishment and early plant health can reflect higher yields at harvest are available at www.AcceleronSTS.com.

Source: BASF; edited by Jaclyn Sindrich, Managing Editor and Stefanie A. Toth, Online Editor