Monsanto Moves Closer to Launching New Soybean Technology in South America
25 March 2013 
Monsanto said it received all regulatory approvals for its Intacta RR2 Pro soybeans in Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, and is working toward a commercial launch in the coming seasons.
The variety is not only resistant to Roundup herbicide but also contains a Bt trait to combat the soybean looper and velvetbean caterpillar, which commonly plague Brazil. Intacta RR2 Pro is the first biotech product Monsanto specificially developed for a non-U.S. market.
The U.S. agribusiness giant also said its import approval from China for the product’s food, feed and processing use is currently pending. China purchases about 60% of total soybeans that are traded globally. About 60% of China’s total soybean imports are produced by Brazilian and Argentine farmers.
In 2012, 500 farmers in Brazil tested the Intacta 2 RR2 Pro soybeans in field trials that Monsanto calls “Ground Breakers.” The program allows farmers to gain first-hand experience with pipeline products under stewarded commercial-scale planting conditions. Monsanto said the fields planted with Intacta 2 RR2 Pro varieties “realized a productivity advantage, when compared with current commercial products, of 6.59 bags per hectare – equivalent to 5.88 bushels per acre.”
The company quoted a Brazilian farmer, Paulo Roberto Fiatikoski, from the city of Piracanjuba, in the State of Goiás, who participated in the farm trial: “In my farm, the Intacta 2 RR2 Pro field reached a productivity of 65.8 bags per hectare against 55.2 bags per hectare registered with Roundup Ready 1 varieties. It’s a huge difference. In my opinion, this new technology developed by Monsanto is more than welcome,” Fiatikoski said.
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