Bryanston, South Africa
October 17, 2005
Monsanto received the
general release approval for Bollgard® x Roundup Ready® cotton
varieties in South Africa. The official permit will be issued on
21 October. This is still in time for the current cotton season
and we are assured that cotton farmers in South Africa will be
able to obtain seed to plant from Delta & Pinelands company.
This is the first general release of a combined trait cotton
varieties – the combination of two traits into one product.
This milestone marks more than 20 years of research and
development in agricultural biotechnology and 10 years of
commercial biotechnology in the world.
This combination of genes makes the plants resistant to cotton
bollworms and tolerant to the Roundup Ready PlusŇ herbicide with
active ingredient, glyphosate, and are produced through normal
breeding techniques.
The so-called stack gene was developed through the use of
traditional breeding techniques using a variety with the BT gene
and a second plant containing the CP4EPSPS enzyme.
The Bt-gene contains Cry 1 Ac genes that express a protein which
confers resistance of the cotton plants to cotton bollworm
larvae (caterpillars) of specific Lepidopteran families, These
genes were originally isolated from Bacillus thuringiensis
var. kurstaki. The Roundup Ready product contains the
recombinant event that expresses the enhanced enzyme CP4 EPSPS,
which confers tolerance to the herbicide glyphosate. This gene
was originally isolated from an Agrobacterium sp.
1997 saw the first commercial release of Bollgard® (insect
protected cotton) in South Africa and Roundup ReadyŇCotton
varieties have been planted commercially in South Africa since
the summer season of 2001 and provide effective weed control
during crop production with minimal risk of crop injury.
Roundup® agricultural herbicides are highly effective against
the majority of annual and perennial weeds that can be
problematic during the later stages of crop development.
Cotton is grown in South Africa in the following regions :
Mpumalanga, Limpopo Province, North West Province, Northern Cape
Province and KwaZulu-Natal.
Monsanto recently registered a new formulation in the Roundup
family - Roundup Ready Plus. Roundup Ready Plus will be
used on Roundup Ready crops and offers farmers:
-
Flexibility
- weather conditions play an important role in the
effectiveness of herbicides and Roundup Ready Plus still
delivers excellent control over weeds under all weather
conditions, even under adverse conditions
-
Innovation
– Roundup Ready Plus is rain resistant one hour after
application due to fast absorption and more concentrated
-
Crop safety
– advanced Transsorb™ technology in Roundup Ready Plus
delivers a lethal dosage for weeds, but still offers optimal
crop safety
-
Effectiveness
– the improved Roundup Ready Plus formulation offers control
time and time again over difficult to control weeds
-
Quality
– Roundup is still the proven quality product after 30
years.
Roundup Ready Plus contains 540 g/l Potassium salt – which means
that it is 20% more concentrated than the well-known Roundup
Turbo, and also 50% more concentrated than any other 360 g
formulation.
Roundup herbicide had already been registered in 1975 in South
Africa, and is still the leader in many respects after 30 years.
Not only is Roundup the market leader in sales, but also in
respect of quality and innovation. A high quality product is
critically important in effective weed control, especially with
regard to weed that is difficult to control and unfavourable
weather conditions. |
