Monsanto (MON) has entered into an agreement with BASF to collaborate on the advancement of dicamba (organochlorine compound used as an herbicide) tolerant cropping systems. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Headquartered in Germany, BASF is the world’s leading chemical company, with a portfolio of chemicals, plastics, performance products and agricultural products to oil and gas businesses.
Under the agreement, the companies have granted reciprocal licenses and BASF will supply formulated dicamba herbicide products to Monsanto.
With the aid of their proprietary (BASF’s innovative dicamba formulations and Monsanto’s dicamba tolerant trait), both the companies will work towards the development and subsequent commercialization of a dicamba tolerant system. The proprietary formulation will help farmers grapple with the weed control and crop safety problems.
Further, Monsanto and BASF will market the combination of new dicamba herbicide formulations with dicamba tolerant crops and prepare their own mixtures. They will also develop stewardship guidelines and best management practices for the dicamba tolerant system.
The companies expect that the system will be introduced within five years, in the United States and Canada.
Earlier, Monsanto had entered into a multi-year collaboration to discover genes that could be applied to agriculture with Sapphire Energy Inc.
These genes will have a positive impact on the growth of algae, which might increase crop yields as well.
Based in San Diego, Sapphire is a fuel company providing renewable fuel products, such as gasoline, jet fuel and diesel.
With the help of Sapphire’s algae-based research platform, Monsanto will find properties in algae to support modern agriculture. Sapphire will extend the boundaries of algal science beyond the traditional agricultural crops and commercialize algae as a renewable energy crop.
Missouri-based Monsanto provides technology-based solutions and agricultural products to improve farm productivity and food quality. The global market for products from the seeds and genomics segment has been experiencing growing competition. The company competes directly with Switzerland-based Syngenta AG (SYT).
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