Monsanto halts plan for GM Bt soybeans in US

U-turn due to rising insect resistance to GM Bt toxins

GM Bt insecticidal crop technology has become redundant due to pests evolving resistance to the Bt toxins in the crops. The U-turn by Monsanto described in the article below is a direct result of this technology failure.

---

Bt beans on hold

By Emily Unglesbee

DTN The Progressive Farmer, 9 May 2018

https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/news/crops/article/2018/05/09/monsanto-halts-plan-bt-soybeans-us?referrer=twitter#.WvPZz-eXY6E.twitter

* Monsanto halts plan for Bt soybeans in US

Monsanto has shelved a longstanding project to bring Bt soybeans to the U.S. by the turn of the decade.

The company cited low grower demand, but U.S. insect resistance to the proteins in its Bt soybean product is more likely the culprit, entomologists told DTN.

Monsanto first launched Intacta RR2 PRO soybeans, which contain the single Bt protein Cry1Ac, in South America in 2013. The company has produced a second-generation product called Intacta 2 Xtend, which adds the Bt proteins Cry1A.105 and Cry2Ab2, as well as dicamba tolerance. Both products target certain Lepidoptera pests of soybean, such as soybean looper and velvetbean caterpillar.

Monsanto hopes to launch Intacta 2 Xtend in South America around 2021, Mark Kidnie, Monsanto's South American lead for corn and soybean technology, told DTN.

Intacta 2 Xtend was initially slated for commercialization in the Southern U.S. around the same time, according to a DTN interview in April with Renata Bolognesi, Monsanto's North American lead for corn and soybean technology. Monsanto has spent more than a decade working with Southern universities to test the efficacy of Bt soybeans in the U.S., as well as determine what refuge system would be required for them here.

But in early May, Monsanto told DTN that the project has been halted indefinitely.

"We found that there was a lack of product demand from our growers in the region," Monsanto spokesperson Kyel Richard said in an email. "...Therefore at this time we do not intend to launch this particular technology in the U.S."

Mississippi State University Extension entomologist Angus Catchot said the Southern U.S. would benefit from a Bt soybean product.

Southern soybean growers are facing high populations of soybean loopers and soybean podworm (also known as the cotton bollworm and corn earworm), along with growing insecticide resistance.