Monsanto targets resistant weeds with new herbicide

Monsanto got the stamp of approval from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this week to bring a new soybean and cotton post-emergence herbicide to market.

The new herbicide, a new formulation of acetochlor that will be available for the 2010 growing season, will be introduced in areas where resistance is most common, namely the Midwest, Southeast and mid-South, according to Monsanto officials.

"Farmers face a number of weed control challenges in cotton and soybean production and we continue to work on solutions from both the crop protection and seeds and traits perspectives," says Kerry Overton, Monsanto selective herbicides marketing manager. "We've been working on a plan that includes immediate ways to address those challenges through information, as well as incentives designed to take a season-long approach."

The new acetochlor formulation for cotton and soybeans was preceded by products like Harness herbicide and Degree herbicide. Both herbicides are approved for use on corn, where the compound already provides reliable pre-emergent residual control of grasses and small-seeded broadleaf weeds. In comparative testing against currently registered products under an EPA experimental use permit during the 2009 season, the new formulation provided similar crop safety results in cotton with improved control of Palmer amaranth, more commonly called pigweed. Soybean testing in the same season showed improved crop safety results and similar weed control to currently registered products, according to a Monsanto report.

source: www.agriculture.com