Eyes were on the sky as black and yellow figures floated above the crowd at the 52nd annual Farm Progress Show in Decatur, Illinois. Although they created quite a buzz, they weren’t bumble bees, they were Resistance Fighters™.

The skydivers were part of a massive movement by Syngenta Crop Protection to launch an important interactive web site, www.resistancefighter.com, which is devoted to exposing weed resistance and promoting resistance management. During the three-day show, more than 700 people visited the web site and within a few weeks membership nearly doubled.

“Glyphosate resistance is a real and growing threat,” said Chuck Foresman, Herbicide Resistance Technical Brand Manager for Syngenta Crop Protection.  “Just this month, a fifth weed in the United States, Palmer pigweed, officially joined the ranks of resistant weeds. In only seven years, researchers have confirmed glyphosate resistance in 14 states.”

At www.resistancefighter.com, growers, researchers and industry leaders can participate in the online forum, ask questions, see where resistance is occurring and read the latest articles on glyphosate resistance. However, the main goal of the site is to offer solutions for delaying and managing resistance.

“The Resistance Fighter code for effective management is 2-1-2: no more than two applications of glyphosate on one field over a two-year period,” Foresman said. “We know that with glyphosate-tolerant crops, it’s possible for growers to use nothing but glyphosate year after year. That’s short-term thinking. Growers really need to consider that once glyphosate-resistant weeds develop, they don’t go away. Weeds remember they are resistant to glyphosate for years. Plus, there is no new chemistry coming along so we need to preserve the tools we have today for future generations.”

To fight resistance and preserve glyphosate, growers also should rotate conventional crops with glyphosate-tolerant crops, alternate modes of action and employ burndown, pre-emergence and post-emergence herbicides in weed control programs.

“There’s more than one way to kill a weed,” explained Foresman. “If you choose to fight resistance with rotating chemistries, you’ll have plenty of allies.”

Syngenta offers a wide variety of Resistance Fighters that provide in-field solutions to fighting resistance and maintaining profitability. Options include Callisto®, LUMAX®, Lexar®, Bicep II MAGNUM®, Dual II MAGNUM® and Gramoxone Max™, all of which can be researched on www.resistancefighter.com.

“We want this to be a resource and a discussion place,” said Foresman. “There is no better way to learn about resistance than to hear it straight from the growers experiencing it and the experts studying it. And, there is no better way to fight resistance than to follow 2-1-2.”

Do you 2-1-2? To become part of the Resistance Fighter movement, log on to www.resistancefighter.com and click on the laptop to register.

Syngenta is a world-leading agribusiness committed to sustainable agriculture through innovative research and technology. The company is a leader in crop protection, and ranks third in the high-value commercial seeds market. Sales in 2004 were approximately $7.3 billion. Syngenta employs some 20,000 people in over 90 countries. Syngenta is listed on the Swiss stock exchange (SYNN) and in New York (SYT).

Bicep II MAGNUM, Gramoxone Max, Lexar, and LUMAX are Restricted Use Pesticides.

Bicep II MAGNUM®, Callisto®, Dual II MAGNUM®, Gramoxone Max™, Lexar®, LUMAX®, Resistance Fighter™ and the Syngenta logo are trademarks of a Syngenta Group Company.