BASF, Monsanto Team Up On Soy Fungicide Seed Treatment

Posted by Matt Hopkins|24 June 2008

BASF and Monsanto have signed an exclusive agreement for a new fungicide seed treatment solution for soybeans in the US which will contain BASF’s F 500 fungicide and will be commercialized in conjunction with the launch of Monsanto’s Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybean seed to provide soybean farmers with early-season disease protection for improved stand and extra vitality.

"We’re pleased to be partnering with BASF to deliver new seed-based technology to soybean farmers," said Carl Casale, executive vice president for Monsanto in a press release. "We feel the product will be the best seed treatment fungicide available to complement our new Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybean offering. In today’s demand-driven agriculture landscape, seed treatments are a natural fit in maximizing the realizable yield from seed and traits that are so important to farmers."

"We’re happy that US soybean growers will have access to this exciting new product from our SeedSolutions pipeline in the 2009 growing season," said Markus Heldt, head of BASF’s Crop Protection business in North America. "This fungicide seed treatment is the first in this new generation of BASF seed treatment products that the company plans to launch globally over the next couple of years, and it is the perfect complement to Headline fungicide to get seedlings off to a strong start," he noted.

Under the agreement, Monsanto will have exclusive rights to commercialize the new fungicide seed treatment in soybeans. Additional details of the agreement were not disclosed.