Client News
Stacking the Deck (SmartStax)
Pamela Henderson Smith, Agweb.com
July 3, 2008
The seed industry is calling it an eight gene stack. You'll likely call it SmartStax—that's the trade name for the new combination that is being heralded as the product that could one day reduce refuge requirements in corn.
SmartStax is being co-developed by Dow AgroSciences LLC and Monsanto Company. It combines technologies from both companies for multiple modes-of-action against above and below ground insects and tolerance to two herbicides in a single seed. Both companies have now filed submissions for regulatory review in the United States and in Japan to support commercial launch. Pending approval, SmartStax is on track to become commercially available in 2010.
The stacked product will become the first with multiple effective genes against both lepidopteran and corn rootworm pests. The Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) proteins at work in SmartStax deliver multiple modes of actions and as a result, a request has been submitted to EPA to reduce refuge requirements when SmartStax is planted.
Dow AgroSciences will offer SmartStax through its Mycogen and Triumph Seed brands, and will use the trait platform to launch future trait technologies including Dow Herbicide Tolerance (DHT) and other agronomic enhancements. DHT is a new family of traits that will provide tolerance to 2,4-D and other classes of herbicides.
SmartStax technology platform will be made broadly available across Monsanto's three corn seed channels which include leading national brands, such as DEKALB, regional brands in the company's American Seeds, Inc., or ASI and license partners through Corn States seed company. The platform will also serve as the entry point for future advanced technologies in corn, such as water stress tolerance and nitrogen efficiency.