PhytoGen: Building on a Banner Year
December 22, 2009 If field day attendance is any gauge of how much cotton will be planted next year, then PhytoGen salesmen have cause for optimism.
Over 50 growers showed up for what was supposed to be a small-scale field tour in Leachville, AR. Phytogen’s Joel Faircloth, a Cotton Development Specialist, had a message tailored especially for growers in the region, which has traditionally suffered some of the worst root-knot nematode damage in the nation.
“We brought PHY 367 WRF out specifically for the Northeast Arkansas, Bootheel of Missouri area,” says Faircloth. An early-season variety, 367 boasts root-knot nematode tolerance, which Phytogen believes will make it a hot commodity in pockets of the Mid-South. The variety’s WideStrike/Roundup Ready Flex stack gives it a 1-2 punch against pests.
Phytogen’s WideStrike, like Bollgard II, has two stacked Bt genes. The end result is another transgenic option to fit in different situations.
PhytoGen’s 375 WRF is another WideStrike/Roundup Ready Flex stack that will be in position to make major advances in the Mid-South and Southeast this year. 375 had a banner year in 2009, the first year it was fully commercially available, by accounting for nearly 13% of the cotton acreage in the Mid-South. That total made it the most-planted variety in the region.
The company is also introducing PHY 565 WRF on a limited basis in 2010. 565 is a semi-smooth leaf stacked variety. PhytoGen is betting on the variety filling in perfectly in acreage once devoted to Deltapine’s 555 BG/RR, which is being phased out after the coming growing season.
PhytoGen was the most popular Pima brand. PHY 800 Pima accounted for 40.1% of the market, while PHY 830 Pima captured 17.9%.
For more information on PhytoGen varieties, see: www.phytogenyields.com.
GET THE NEWSLETTER TODAY!
