Beetle with a

sweet tooth
Australia: Contribu-
tion of Confidor Guard
to greyback cane grub
management.
The latest in
plant breeding
Increasing yields,
securing the food
supply: biotechnol-
ogy in the field.
A bitter
bean thats in
hot demand
Cocoa: a sensitive
crop with valuable
export potential.
Fresh food, delivered
to your plate
The Bayer Cr opSci ence Magazi ne for moder n Agr i cul tur e 1 | 11
02 COURIER 1 | 11
AGRICULTURAL PRACTICE
Beetle with a sweet tooth
Australia is the worlds eighth-largest producer of
sugar cane, and the third largest exporter of cane
sugar. However, the countrys 4,000 sugar cane
farmers have a troublesome insect pest to deal
with: the greyback cane grub. Fortunately, Bayer
CropSciences Condor Guard presents an efcient
solution to the problem.
Page 10
Seite 12
BIOSCIENCE
The latest in plant
breeding
Small seed, great need: major crops like
wheat and rice start life in the eld as tiny,
inconspicuous seeds which nevertheless
have to grow to meet high expectations.
Bayer CropSciences researchers are working
to give the crops new power.
PANORAMA
A bitter bean thats
in hot demand
The more delicate the fruit, the more susceptible
the plants are to pests and diseases. Cocoa trees
are very choosy when it comes to their growing
environment: only the warmest and wettest tropi-
cal conditions will do such as those found in the
Ivory Coast, Brazil and Indonesia.
Page 24
CONTENT | IMPRINT
Page 14
Published by: Bayer CropScience AG, Monheim
am Rhein, Germany / Editor: Bernhard Grupp /
With contributions from: Widera Kommunikation,
K. Doughty, Wissen + Konzepte / Design and Layout:
Xpertise, Langenfeld / Lithography: LSD GmbH &
Co. KG, Dsseldorf / Printed by: Kunst- und Werbe-
druck, Bad Oeynhausen / Repro duction of contents
is per missible providing Bayer is acknowl edged
and advised by specimen copy / Editors address:
Bayer CropScience AG, Corporate Commu ni-
cations, Alfred-Nobel-Str. 50, 40789 Monheim
mance of the company and the estimates given
here. These factors include those discussed in
Bayers public reports which are available on the
Bayer website at www.bayer.com. The company
assumes no liability whatsoever to update these
forward-looking statements or to conform them
to future events or developments.
COURIER online-news
www.agrocourier.com
am Rhein, Germany, FAX: 0049-2173-383454 /
Website: www.bayercropscience.com
Forward-Looking Statements
This publication may contain forward-looking
statements based on current assumptions and
forecasts made by Bayer Group or subgroup
management. Various known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors could lead to
material differences between the actual future
results, financial situation, development or perfor-
IMPRINT
1 | 11 COURIER 03 CONTENT | NEWS IN BRIEF
NUTRITION
Vitamins, delivered to your plate 04
Fruit and vegetables for the convenience
food market.
AGRICULTURAL PRACTICE
Beetle with a sweet tooth 10
Efective greyback cane grub
management with Condor Guard.
BIOSCIENCE
The latest in plant breeding 14
Increasing yields, securing the food supply:
biotechnology in the eld.
INTERVIEW
Using genetic networks and
interdisciplinary approaches 18
An interview with Dr. Johan Botterman,
Head of BioScience Product Research at
Bayer CropScience
TECHNOLOGY
Protecting corn seedlings
against competition 20
The new corn herbicide Adengo is
revolutionizing early weed control.
PANORAMA
A bitter bean thats in hot demand 24
Cocoa a valuable export crop.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
New woods from the glasshouse 28
Over the past ve years, Bayer CropScience
has been helping its customers in the fore-
stry sector to plant trees on an industrial
scale and then to keep them healthy.
NEWS IN BRIEF
Strengthening the product
portfolio for cereals 31
Bayer CropScience is investing signicant
resources into research and development in
order to develop new varieties and increase
the productivity of wheat cultivation.
Better fungicide
rotation in Brazil
A new Bayer CropScience product finally allows for the urgently
needed fungicide rotation for Brazilian soybean growers: For the
next season, Fox will hit the shelves, providing unprecedented
control of Asian soybean rust and other soybean diseases such as
target spot and anthracnose. Based on the active ingredient prothi-
oconazole, Fox is highly effective on fungi populations showing
low sensitivity to other products and makes plants more vigorous
and resistant to diseases as well as short periods of drought.
During the past season, Bayer CropScience colleagues in Brazil
tested the product on more than 700 field plots. In our tests, we
registered an average of seven percent higher yield compared to
other standards in the market, said Global Crop Manager Mauro
Alberton. Thats because of the increased content of chlorophyll
and other plant components in the treated plants.
In the tests, Fox has proven its effectiveness on populations show-
ing lower sensitivities toward classical azole-based fungicides. Its
innovative twists are the different binding characteristics: Com-
pared to the commonly used azoles, the triazolinthione compound
prothioconazole has a different way of attaching itself to the
enzyme it intends to block in the fungus. t
As part of her search
for effective tools to
control Asian soybean
rust, the Brazilian biolo-
gist Cleonilda Santos
analyses rust isolates on
infected leaves. With the
new fungicide Fox, Bayer
CropSciences researchers
have succeeded in devel-
oping a novel, effective
product for controlling
this disease.
NUTRITION
Rising prosperity isnt just pushing the demand for meat. High-quality fruit and vegetables
are also increasingly in demand around the world. But the amount of time consumers are
willing to spend preparing them is decreasing. Consumption of ready-made salads and
fruit snacks is on the rise - and convenience food is proving to be a stable market sector,
even in times of economic crisis. This presents farmers and plantation companies with an
opportunity ready for the taking as long as they possess a clear understanding of the
requirements and needs of customers.
Bananas from the snack dis-
penser, peeled oranges in see-through
boxes, juicy melon cubes in a cup, or
salad la chef in plastic trays: vitamins
04 COURIER 1 | 11
Fruit and vegetables for the convenience food market
Vitamins, delivered
to your plate
to go, instead of carbohydrates fast
food is certainly in. Convenience food
is an extremely fast-growing market.
And its not just single people who are
increasingly interested in ready-to-use
products examples of which include
prepared salad in bags, chopped carrot
sticks for a healthy snack, fruit salad with
melon, or sandwiches ready for eating in
the office. This healthy fast food has fans
from all age groups and social groupings.
For food and drink consumption patterns
are becoming less and less likely to follow
clearly-defined paths: they are becom-
ing more flexible and individual due to
the broad variety of attitudes and life-
styles. But one underlying trend is clear:
most people are interested in living, and
1 | 11 COURIER 05 NUTRITION
eating, more healthily. This means that
supermarkets must offer fresh fruit and
vegetables of consistently high quality
throughout the year. At the same time,
people dont want to spend much time
preparing their food.
Contrary to all expectations, the conven-
ience food sector has proved itself largely
immune to the latest crisis in the world
economy, says Hans Renia, a Produce
Chain specialist who covers the Neth-
erlands and Germany for Nunhems, the
vegetable seed business of Bayer Crop-
Science. In the United States, the market
for so-called fresh-cut products even
grew by five per cent in 2009, despite
the economic downturn. Convenience
food may be more expensive than buy-
ing the raw ingredients for a meal indi-
vidually, but its still cheaper than eating
in a restaurant. And the recent reces-
sion has led many people to reduce the
number of occasions on which they eat
out, making them stay at home instead
to enjoy a meal with family and friends.
The convenience food sector contrib-
utes the major elements of these meals,
says Renia. Although restaurants tend to
rely increasingly on fresh produce, the
real growth market nowadays is in the
retail sector. Moreover, private consum-
ers are willing to pay a higher premium
for ready-made ingredients. The range
of products is growing: Many older and
more established brands but also many
new companies are looking to achieve
competitive advantage and higher profit
Sandwiches with fresh, crisp salad leaves are often the
result of speedy mass production.
margins through innovation, says Renia.
The number of consumers eating con-
venience food at least once a week con-
tinues to climb rapidly. According to a
study by Rabobank, the fresh produce
industry in the EU is expected to achieve
an annual growth rate of at least four
percent over the coming years. The Asian
market for convenience foods is growing
at an even greater speed: the annual rate
of increase exceeds ten percent in many
Asian countries. The wealthy middle
class is expanding rapidly. Not only do
these people have little time, they are also
Popular Vitamins
Just over one and a half billion tons of fruit and vegetables were produced
worldwide in 2010. According to the German agricultural market information
company (AMI), approximately 820 million tons of vegetables and 700 million
tons of fruit were produced worldwide that year. Apples, grapes, oranges, mel-
ons and bananas are the worlds most important fruit species: taken together,
they account for about 65 percent of world production. There is a more diverse
range of species among vegetables, and the top five (tomato, onion, cabbage,
cucumber and eggplant) represent only about 40 percent of production. The EU
is the worlds number one importing region for fresh fruit. For fresh vegetables,
this only applies if the trade between EU countries is also taken into account;
otherwise, the U.S. is in the lead.
very open to new ideas good precon-
ditions for convenience products, says
Renia. And the emerging countries of
Eastern Europe are also discovering the
advantages of fresh finished products.
However, it is very difficult to obtain
reliable statistics on market size: incon-
sistent use of definitions, the dynamics of
growth, and varying regional structures
make this almost impossible. In the EU
for example, ready-to-eat salads repre-
sent half of the fresh produce market; in a
more mature market such as the U.S., the
corresponding figure is only seven per-
cent. The US market is also much more
strongly focused: 82 percent of sales for
pre-packed salads is shared by five fresh
products manufacturers. In Europe and
Asia, market share is more fine-grained:
There are many more participants in
the market, and thus a predominance of
smaller players, says Renia.
Listening carefully
to the customer
A major center of innovation for con-
venience foods is the West coast of the
United States. Many new product ideas
are being generated in California that
then spread to the rest of the coun-
try. In Europe, the United Kingdom is
leading the way in fresh-cut products
from the refrigerated counter. Here, pre-
Keeping the cooling and storage chain
short is essential if fruit and vegetables
are to reach the table fresh.
Quality control at Nunhems: Jan Bergs
checks the development of melon seed-
lings under experimental conditions. The
aim is to breed varieties that fulfill the
requirements of the market.
Washing and processing must not
affect the quality of the fruit.
packaged sandwiches and salads to go
are very much in fashion. And in the
area of fresh-fruit salads, pre-cut por-
tions are becoming ever more popular.
In many countries, you can find them
everywhere these days, says Thomas
Gruenewald, Head of Product Area for
fresh and frozen articles at Lekkerland,
a European full-service specialist com-
pany for all strategic convenience food
distribution channels. For example, Lek-
kerland supplies fresh sandwiches and
ready-mixed leafy salads to gas station
shops, grocery stores, bakeries, canteens
and convenience stores.
Gruenewald lists some of the important
demands made of his convenience retail
partners, Standardized procedures are
very important for maintaining a con-
sistently high level of product quality.
For us, it is critical not only that our part-
ners work professionally: they also need
to support this fact through certification.
Sourcing fresh salads or sliced tomatoes
is particularly highly demanding in terms
of manufacturing and logistics. Vegeta-
bles must be easily transported and capa-
ble of storage. And they actually con-
tinue to live on after harvest: valuable
constituents are broken down and loss of
quality can occur through fungal growth.
For the trade and logistics companies,
this means a race against time. For Lek-
kerlands convenience food experts, the
refrigeration chain is a key element: it
must function seamlessly, starting with
the harvest, via processing, and through
to sale in gas stations, supermarkets or
snack bars. Proper cooling is achieved
at between two and seven degrees Cel-
sius. At storage temperatures higher than
seven degrees Celsius, there is a much
greater possibility that a lot of fresh pro-
duce starts to deteriorate. The industry
calculates, for example, that each hour
of interruption reduces the shelf life of
prepared salads by about a day.
Innovation drivers in the area of conven-
ience foods can be found in nearly all
of the participating branches: from seed
producers to processing plants and from
machinery manufacturers to packaging
1 | 11 COURIER 07 NUTRITION
designers. But its fruit and vegetable
breeding in particular thats occupying
a central role in satisfying the growing
demand for convenience food: For us,
innovation starts with the seed. In that
regard, we work effectively with all rep-
resentatives involved in the convenience
market, including food processors, cater-
ing companies and retailers, says Daniel
Kretzschmar, Nunhems Produce Chain
Manager for Europe, Middle East and
Africa. The breeders therefore always lis-
ten closely to the consumer: sweet cherry
tomatoes should disappear in a single
mouthful, and heart-shaped tomatoes are
considered a popular party gimmick. New
varieties tend to be the result of a ten-
year process of crossing and selection.
Special varieties
required
Large food chain players usually have
specific requirements of raw commodities
for convenience foods. And these often
differ from the requirements consumers
have for fresh fruit. Take melons and
watermelons for example: processors tend
to prefer larger fruits for making fruit sal-
ads than most consumers do, because the
recovery rate is much higher with larger
fruits. A German food retailer stipulates
strict cultivation conditions to suppli-
ers of its salad vegetables, peppers and
grapes. The basis for this is the standard
Global GAP (Good Agricultural Practice).
But on top of this, this retailer tolerates
only a certain percent of the legally-per-
mitted maximum residue limits of crop
protection products, and controls this
through systematic, intensive monitor-
ing that involves frequent quality checks,
starting in the field and continuing right
into the retail trade. And this retailer only
accepts from its suppliers specific varie-
ties of lettuce that are capable of good
processing. After cutting, the lettuces are
immediately washed in ice water, so that
the cut surfaces quickly close over and
the products are made more durable.
We strive to obtain a good insight into
the complex production process. That
helps us to learn a lot about individual
processing procedures and current con-
sumer trends. This, in turn, helps us to
develop varieties that start new trends in
the industry, says Kretzschmar, describ-
ing the Nunhems approach. For example,
it is essential that processing plants can
obtain a steady supply of fresh, raw prod-
ucts throughout the year. This is why a
processor might use varieties from differ-
ent growing regions: the consumer may
not notice the difference. Depending on
the season, fresh-product companies
based in the Benelux countries might
process Nunhems melon varieties that
have been grown in Spain, Senegal, Bra-
zil or Central America. Having a uniform
product is particularly important when
fruit and vegetables are processed auto-
matically: for example, the machines that
cut watermelons and honeydew melons
into bite-sized cubes for pre-packaged
fruit salads only work well for a particu-
lar size and shape of fruit. This requires
special varieties that can be grown to the
same quality standard in different coun-
tries, explains Kretzschmar.
Optimizing industrial
processing
Besides the current trend towards ready-
portioned fruit salads, theres a con-
venience food classic that is still sell-
ing extremely well: the sandwich. And
it doesnt matter whether the filling is
chicken breast, ham or salami tomatoes,
cucumber and lettuce leaves must always
be added. But sandwiches are a major
challenge for the food processing indus-
try, points out Kretzschmar, because
simply everything has to be right. The
ingredients have to be easy to handle and
available all year round. They must arrive
in a ripe and easily-processed condition,
and must match the other ingredients in
the sandwich. They should not make the
bread go soggy; they must look fresh
and have a pleasant, sweet taste - and of
course, they must be inexpensive.
This is why researchers and breeders at
Nunhems have developed a range of vari-
eties specifically for the convenience food
Daniel Kretzschmar, Nunhems Produce Chain Manager for
Europe, Middle East and Africa at the Fruit Logistica in Berlin,
the worlds largest trade fair for the international fruit trade.
The Produce Chain specialist Hans Renia covers
the Netherlands and Germany for Nunhems, the
vegetable seeds business of Bayer CropScience.
08 COURIER 1 | 11 NUTRITION
industry. The Intense tomato simplifies
tomato processing, especially for hotels,
restaurants and catering companies. And
Veronica Castaneda Muoz, a nutrition
scientist from Mexico, is enthusiastic
about her encounter with Intense: One
bite was enough to convince me. There
was no squirting, and it tasted wonder-
ful. The special feature of the tomato is
its dense structure. The juice is retained
even under pressure, so that the fruits can
be cut into very thin slices. This makes it
ideal for sandwiches, which would other-
wise be completely soggy after only a few
hours, says the Mexican lady, who has
worked for two years now at her fathers
market garden in Camalu, and manages
some 83 hectares of tomato plantations.
The fact that the tomato doesnt lose any
juice is a big benefit for food safety, as
bacteria can develop rapidly in liquids
says Kretzschmar.
The manufacturers of processing
machines also play an important part
in the value chain, because the grow-
ing convenience food market can only
be satisfied through optimal industrial
processing, explains Stephan Zillgith,
Managing Director of Kronen Nahrungs-
mitteltechnik (Food Technology) GmbH,
a machine producer that has specialized
in processing equipment and is present in
all of the major markets. Their machines
chop, cut or slice up to 2,000 kilograms
of fresh produce an hour: cabbage heads
are chopped into strips for salads; car-
rots are peeled and cut automatically into
thumb-length pieces. And crisp apples
are turned into bite-sized morsels.
Zillgiths most important customers
include companies in the U.S., Brit-
ain and the rest of the EU. But he also
observes growth in convenience food
in the Middle East, because demand for
processing machines is increasing in the
region. You see more and more finished
products in airports, hotels and tour-
ist centers. And even in countries with
relatively low wage levels, such as Thai-
land, producers of convenience foods
are keen on technology using it to cut
the very popular pineapple into bite-
size pieces. Machines can be sterilized,
whereas people can introduce contami-
nating germs, thus reducing the shelf-life
considerably, explains Zillgith. He has
also supplied machines to Turkey for de-
stoning apricots, and even the traditional
strawberries served at Wimbledon have
their stalks removed by Kronen machines
before being filled with vanilla sauce.
Innovative convenience
food marketing
Large retail chains such as Del Monte are
also constantly looking for innovative
ways of introducing new convenience
products in the market. For example,
the company has worked with its part-
ners to develop a concept for the sale of
individual bananas from snack (vending)
machines: they also offer grapes, pine-
apple chunks, apple slices, baby carrots,
celery sticks and grape tomatoes too. We
are responding to the demand for healthy
food in new situations by offering fresh
products in places such as schools, uni-
versities and theaters, explains Den-
nis Christou, Marketing Vice-President,
speaking during the Fresh Connex 2011
exhibition in Berlin. Christou who is
always on the lookout for new distri-
bution channels also sees a growing
demand and great growth potential for
convenience foods in other major mar-
kets in Europe and the Middle East.
The nutrition
expert Veronica
Castaneda Munoz
on her farm,
Berry Veg de
Baja in Mexico,
where she culti-
vates the Intense
tomato.
Dr. Birgitt Walz-
Tylla, Head of Food
Chain Management
at Bayer CropSci-
ence, with Georg
Funken, the owner
of a raw food pro-
cessing factory.
1 | 11 COURIER 09 NUTRITION 1 | 11 COURIER 09
The successful introduction of new con-
venience products requires not only novel
ideas for products, but also accurate
knowledge of the requirements and needs
of all market participants. Bayer CropSci-
ences experts therefore try to establish
close links with, and between, growers,
consultants, processors, food wholesal-
ers, importers, exporters, retailers and
catering specialists, in order to achieve
a better understanding of the demands
of consumers and the industry. Con-
sumers around the world have become
more demanding in terms of the qual-
ity of fruits and vegetables. They want
to know where, and how, their food was
grown, explains Dr. Birgitt Walz-Tylla,
Head of Bayer CropSciences Food Chain
Partnership team. This program benefits
consumers as much as it does transport-
ers, distributors, food distributors and
farmers around the world: We launched
the Food Chain Partnership concept in
order to provide benefits for each link in
the food chain, says Walz-Tylla. In addi-
tion, Bayer CropScience also supports
fruit and vegetable growers to market
their products at the international level.
Traceability, sustainability
and food safety
But its also important that farmers adapt
their farming practices and production
methods to meet the needs of the con-
venience food industry, emphasizes the
Nunhems expert Renia. This particularly
applies to issues such as traceability, sus-
tainability and food safety: And its pay-
ing off for farmers and plantation own-
ers, particularly in the convenience food
area, because pre-prepared fresh products
have a much higher value than unpro-
cessed foods, frozen or canned foods.
Moreover, profit margins are consider-
ably higher in the fresh products sector.
The growing convenience segment there-
fore presents a huge opportunity for fruit
and vegetable growers around the world:
For companies that produce ready-made
fresh products, reliable partners those
who can supply over the long term are
essential, says Renia. t
Michael Kmpf
Research into convenience foods
The Intense tomato, a product of Nunhems - Bayer CropSciences vegetable
seed business - was specifically designed for the convenience food market. It
doesnt just leave the processing stage looking exceptionally good in pre-packed
salads: it also maintains its good-looking appearance over a prolonged period,
doesnt oxidize or fade, and doesnt discolor any of the other items in the salad.
But the tomato is only one of many examples of Bayer CropSciences innovative
power. Multileaf is a type of lettuce that splits into many leaves of comparable
size after a single cut. The lettuce offers further significant benefits through its
durability and volume, because it stays fresh for a long time, both in the refrig-
erator, and on the plate. Nunhems breeders can also offer positive developments
in connection with melons: for example, theyve been able to breed watermelons
without seeds, and Magenta cantaloupe melons with particularly sweet, orange
flesh. New vegetable varieties are continually being developed. We are breeding
new varieties on a continuous basis, because a variety is only of interest to the
market for an average of four years, says Ko Remijnse, Managing Director of
Marketing and Sales at Nunhems.
The Intense tomato doesnt lose its juice, and tastes just as juicy after
processing as a fresh tomato.
10 COURIER 1 | 11 AGRICULTURAL PRACTICE
Sugarcane crops in Queensland, Australia,
where 4,000 farmers work an area of
around 450,000 hectares to produce about
30 million tonnes of raw sugar.
1 | 11 COURIER 11 AGRICULTURAL PRACTICE
The inhabitants of the Aus-
tralian north-east coast are probably
in a hurry to forget last summer. First,
persistent very heavy rainfall put huge
tracts of land under water. And then in
February, cyclone Yasi, a weather event
as big as Hurricane Katrina, swept over
the north-east coast, with wind speeds
of nearly 300 kilometers an hour.
These weather systems left serious
effects on the farms along the coastal
strip and also in the inland northern
cropping regions. Many cotton farms
were flooded, and much of the tropi-
cal banana producing area in the north
of the state of Queensland suffered very
severe damage from the extreme winds.
Many of the 4,000 Australian sugar
cane growers also suffered. Almost the
whole Australian sugar cane cultivation
area of 450,000 hectares lies along the
very stretches of the eastern and north-
eastern coast that received the worst
battering. Almost all of the sugar cane
production in Australia comes from the
coastal strip in Queensland between the
southern border near the Gold Coast
and far North Queensland, a distance of
several thousand kilometres. The vast
fields of metershigh sugar cane and the
many small towns with sugar mills are
an iconic image of Queenslands agri-
culture. The Australians harvest about
30 million tons of sugar cane each year
producing about five million tonnes
of raw sugar, eighty percent of which is
exported, mainly to East Asia.
Last season, it will probably have been
much less. Estimates by a representative
canegrower organisation of the com-
bined damage from the unusually wet
weather prior to the arrival of Yasi and
the direct effects of Yasi itself indicate
that the sugar cane farmers may have
lost 500 million Australian dollars (350
million) or more, which corresponds to
about a quarter of the industrys normal
annual turnover: a huge loss.
To make matters worse, Australian sugar
cane farmers arent just confronted with
the vagaries of the weather: like virtu-
ally all crops, sugarcane has its own list
of pests that have to be dealt with. One
of the most feared in Australia is the
cane beetle. Farmers are confronted with
about 20 different species of this pest.
A particularly damaging one is the grey-
back cane grub. Graham Blackburn is a
farmer who knows the effect of this spe-
cies only too well. In the last ten years
we have been getting very poor sugar
content in the cane, he says and we
are paid on sugar content. Eventually,
we could trace this back to the greyback
grub. But this took some time. At first,
we had only noticed that the cane was
always sort of unwell, a little bit under
stress, but we did not know what the
problem was until we had a look at the
roots of the plants. It turned out that,
between February and April, the stool
(the root system under the clumps of
cane) is being attacked so heavily that
the plants have hardly any roots left to
feed with. It turned out that this was a
result of greyback grub.
Its mainly the larvae that are the prob-
lem, explains Pat English, who works
as a Technical Advisor for Bayer Crop-
Science in Queensland, and has his
office in the small town of Mackay
right in the heart of sugar cane country
and not far away from the place where
Blackburn runs his 800 ha cane and cat-
tle farm. English and his colleagues are
all too familiar with the farmers prob-
lems. The adult beetles really dont do
Sugar cane cultivation in Australia
Beetle with a
sweet tooth
Australia is the worlds eighth-largest producer of sugar
cane, and the third largest exporter of cane sugar. However,
the countrys 4,000 sugar cane farmers have a troublesome
insect pest to deal with. Fortunately, Bayer CropSciences
Condor Guard ofers an efcient solution to the problem.
Aerial view of greyback grub damage
near Haughton River in northeast
Australia.
trolled when toads became predators of
the beetles.. The project was a failure:
Unfortunately, Australia now has a toad
problem on top of its beetle problem. The
supposed solution turned into a prolific
and ecologically disruptive intruder.
Later, the sugar cane farmers began to
have success with organochlorine and
organophosphorus chemicals. Whilst
these were effective, they were also
problematic: for example the organo-
chlorines had serious environmental
consequences, and chlorpyrifos, an
organophosphate, is biodegraded very
rapidly in many Australian soils thus
rendering it ineffective very quickly.
These classes of substances have since
been largely replaced by active sub-
stances with better risk profiles.
Confidor Guard became available
under emergency permit conditions
when control of greyback grub became
a catastrophic failure in one of the major
growing regions, the Burdekin, in 2001.
At the time, we were actually in the
process of developing a special Confi-
dor formulation for use in sugar cane,
recalls Pat English, but because the
active substance in Confidor Guard had
a completely new mode-of-action for
controlling beetles, we soon found out
that we had some better options with a
conventional formulation.
This product had extremely good resid-
ual efficacy which meant we then had
options to apply into ratoons as well as
in the plant crop, which had not been
possible before with any product. We
developed new application techniques
and equipment which allowed place-
ment below the soil surface in both cir-
cumstances. The ability to apply treat-
ments in ratoons has been a revolution
Greyback grub,
3rd instar head
AGRICULTURAL PRACTICE 12 COURIER 1 | 11
Severe greyback
grub damage
any crop damage; they feed on mainly
tree leaves for about 2-3 days only when
they are about to mate. When they lay
their eggs it is most often in sugar cane
crops, and when those eggs hatch, the
larvae feed on the sugar cane roots.
This is where the real damage occurs.
he explains. Sometimes the root system
is damaged so badly that the plant loses
its hold in the soil and falls over.
Risk of cane
grub damage
For farmers, this means not only crop
losses, but also a lot of extra work and
expense to restore the fields to pro-
duction. The fallen plants have to be
removed and replaced with new plant-
ings. This is especially costly because
sugar cane is grown using ratoon agron-
omy, in which farmers do not normally
replant every year, but instead prac-
tice so-called ratooning, which simply
involves letting the stubble that remains
after harvest stand in the field. The stalks
then reshoot from the underground root
system (the stool) again the next sea-
son. It is possible to continue in this
way for several years, until the plants
have become exhausted and need to be
replaced with new plants. However, an
intact root stock is an important prereq-
uisite for ratooning. This is why cane
beetle larvae attacking the roots is such
a great problem to the farmers.
And have been for decades. As early
as the 1930s, there was an attempt at
introducing biological control of the
cane beetle by introducing the cane
toad originally from South America
to Australia. The assumption was that
the cane beetle problem would be con-
in canegrub management, said English.
Whats also important about the prod-
uct is that it enters the roots, so it can act
systemically, explains Pat English. As
soon as the larvae begin to chew on the
roots, they start swallowing the active
substance. Confidor Guard is especially
effective when taken up into the insect
stomach, he points out.
And the Bayer sugar cane team members
stress another important aspect: Confi-
dor Guard fits perfectly into Integrated
Pest Management (IPM) programs. The
active substance is effective at very low
doses, and it can also be used very selec-
tively: if applied correctly, its systemic
action means that it will have the lowest
possible effect on non-target organisms.
Fitting into IPM
programs
For the cane beetle, however, Confidor
Guard is bad news. As soon as the lar-
vae come into contact with the prod-
uct, their behavior changes noticeably.
They stop eating and begin to lose body
mass, says English. When this effect
remains in place for several weeks, it
usually results in the grubs starving to
death.
We have also gained much improved
knowledge of beetle behaviour says
English. With greyback grubs, we now
know how to attract egg laying adults to
some cane fields in preference to others.
The mechanism is related to the height
and vigour of each field, but in essence,
we can manipulate the chances of indi-
vidual fields being infested. Once we do
that, we can use some fields as lethal
trap crops by treating them with Con-
fidor Guard. Farmers can manipulate
1 | 11 COURIER 13 AGRICULTURAL PRACTICE
Applying Confidor
Guard to ratoon
cane
height and vigour of individual fields
by varying harvest timing, nutrition
and irrigation. Its actually an elegant
implementation of IPM, says English.
With other grub species, other tech-
niques are used. Grubs with 2-year life-
cycles cause damage in spring, and can
be effectively treated immediately when
the first signs of damage are evident,
because the cane is rarely so large at
that time that application is not pos-
sible. However, those species which
have an annual lifecycle tend to cause
damage in autumn, which means that
often cane is too large for machinery
to be operating in those fields. In those
circumstances, prophylactic treatments
need to be applied in spring well before
infestation.
No threat to the World Natural Heritage Site
The Great Barrier Reef is the biggest coral reef on earth, and a unique ecosys-
tem. It has been a World Natural Heritage site since 1981. For many years
now, we have been carefully making sure that none of the products weve been
developing for use in sugar cane fields represents any threat to ecosystems
in river estuaries and the sea, explains Pat English, Technical Advisor for
Bayer CropScience in Australia. In the case of Confidor Guard, the company
developed subsurface application techniques for just this purpose: to prevent
the active substance from being washed off from fields. Investigations have
shown that the product remains in the soil for a moderate time, at depths
down to about 30 centimeters or less exactly the region in which beetle
larvae attack the sugar cane roots. In the end, all the material in soil is biode-
graded. It was also possible to demonstrate, according to English, that the
very small amount of active substance that was present in water was quickly
broken down there.
This is very important for farmers. The State of Queensland initiated its Reef
Water Quality Protection Plan as recently as 2009. Reducing the level of
contamination of coastal waters with chemicals from agriculture is one of its
express aims.
This is exactly the case on Graham
Blackburns farm. In autumn, by
March and April the stalks are already
so high again that we can no longer go
over the fields with a tractor in order
to treat, therefore, we do a prophylactic
treatment each September by injecting
directly into the stool, says Blackburn
who has been using Confidor Guard for
four years now.
It does a
fantastic job.
Another important factor in the accept-
ance of Confidor Guard is that if it is
used properly, it presents negligible
threat to the Great Barrier Reef Marine
Park, which lies offshore, running along
the coast (see box). We conducted local
fate studies with this product and the
application methods seem to be bio-
logically effective while limiting offsite
movements.
Within only a few years of its introduc-
tion in Australia, Confidor Guard has
become market leader in sugar cane
insecticides. Among many others, Gra-
ham Blackburn seems to be quite happy
with its effectiveness. It does a fantas-
tic job. It keeps the cane green where it
turned yellow in the years before. And
for the first time in more than 20 years
Blackburn has got a better sugar content
in his cane than the average of the col-
leagues in his mill area. This return on
investment makes the use of the product
very economical, as Blackburn puts it.
Knowing such results, Pat English sees
even more potential for the product.
There are still areas of this countrys
sugar cane industry that are not yet prac-
ticing the treatment, but where treatment
would certainly bring financial benefits
for farmers, explains English. He and his
colleagues still have a lot to do. They help
farmers wherever they can. But theres
one problem they have no solution for:
theyll never be able to prevent extreme
weather events. t Karl Hbner
Cairns
Queensland
Queensland
G
r
e
a
t

B
a
r
r
i
e
r

R
e
e
f
Australia
New South Wales
Mossman
Innisfall
Mourilyan
Lucinda
Ingham
Townsville
Bulk Sugar Terminal Ports
Sugar Cane Areas
Sugar Mills
Sugar Refineries
Proserpine
Mackay
Rockhampton
Bundaberg
Maryborough
Gympie
Brisbane
Ballina
Grafton
14 COURIER 1 | 11 BIOSCIENCE
Small seed, great need: major crops such as wheat and rice start life in the eld as tiny,
inconspicuous seeds which nevertheless have high expectations to meet. For the worlds
population is growing, and the demand for food with it. In future, these crops must pro-
duce higher yields than ever before on less available farmland if there is to be any guaran-
tee of food security. Using biotechnological methods, Bayer CropSciences researchers are
working in their laboratories around the globe to give the crops new power so they can
do whats needed in the eld.
The latest in plant breeding
Increasing yields, securing the food supply
1 | 11 COURIER 15 BIOSCIENCE
The world will need more food.
Increasing prosperity in emerging econ-
omies such as China, Russia, Brazil and
India is bringing major changes to eat-
ing habits. The demand for high-quality
food such as meat and dairy products
is growing. Overall, the requirement for
meat and thus for animal feed will
increase by 25 percent over the next 15
years, according to the FAO (Food and
Agriculture Organization).
Indeed, the FAO data indicates that global
food production will have to almost
double by 2050. But while the number
of people increases by around 80 million
every year, the amount of arable land
per person available for growing food
continues to shrink in proportion. The
global potential for creating new agri-
cultural land is seriously limited, and the
available acreage is even declining in
many countries due to water scarcity,
soil erosion and desertification, warns
Prof. Chiara Tonelli, Professor of Genet-
ics at the University of Milan in Italy.
If food production is to keep up with
demand, then the productivity of crops
must increase significantly as many
experts will confirm.
Scientists are therefore working inten-
sively to develop plants that produce
higher yields. Drought tolerance and
fertilizer uptake are also important tar-
gets in the development of new vari-
eties, because global climate change
might exacerbate the current supply
challenges. In fact, classical methods of
cross-breeding are unlikely to meet the
high demands imposed on the crops of
the future. But rapid progress in plant
biotechnology in recent years has made
new tools available to breeders and
researchers: Biotechnological meth-
ods dont just accelerate plant breed-
ing considerably, they also complement
the many years of traditional breeding
experience, says Dr. Johan Botterman,
Head of Product Research in BioSci-
ence at Bayer CropScience. Using the
new breeding techniques, plants can
be equipped with the desired properties
more quickly.
This is thanks mainly to progress in
gene sequencing, explains Dr. Michael
Metzlaff, Manager of Research Collabo-
rations for BioScience at Bayer Crop-
Science. Genes and their functions
The art of raising cucumbers
in the laboratory: Bayer
CropSciences Biotechnology
experts and plant breeders
have brought vegetable seeds
to germinate in a Petri dish
containing a nutrient solution.
The latest in plant breeding
can now be identified much more easily
than was the case ten years ago. Since
the decoding of the genome of the model
plant Arabidopsis thaliana, research-
ers have ever more accurate and novel
insights into the interplay of plant genes,
their functions and mutual relationships.
In the meanwhile, researchers have also
decoded the genomes of some major
crops, including corn, rice and oilseed
rape.
Prof. Tonelli mentions only one exam-
ple among many: Plant biotechnology
allows us to identify the most important
genes involved in water use and drought
tolerance. Often, whole networks of
genes are responsible for the desired
characteristics. These complex networks,
with their many cross-links, are what
biotechnologists and plant breeders are
trying to decipher and understand.
Raising yields,
improving quality
One modern method that takes the
researchers to the heart of the plant cell
to the genome, within the nucleus is
Molecular Breeding. Analytical tech-
niques like this usually give a much
more detailed insight into a plant than
is revealed to the naked eye. These tools
allow the breeding experts of Nunhems
to know, for example, how hot a chili
pepper is likely to taste long before
it develops on the plant. Indeed, it is
possible to change one or more genes
through skillful crossing and selection
in the laboratory to ensure that the plant
expresses the desired property. This
targeted approach to selection saves an
enormous amount of development time,
space in the greenhouse and field tri-
als enabling us to better meet market
demands, comments Dr. Jan van den
Berg, Head of Molecular Breeding for
Nunhems, the vegetable specialists at
Bayer CropScience.
Together with a group of colleagues
including molecular geneticists, bio-
chemists and bioinformaticians, van
den Berg is working to characterize new
properties of vegetables that are associ-
ated with the quality of the fruit, resist-
ance to disease, and yield. This repre-
sents a shift in the work of plant breeders
from the field to the laboratory and not
16 COURIER 1 | 11 BIOSCIENCE
least to the computer. For this is where
the real challenge begins: bioinforma-
ticians and statisticians have to ana-
lyze, and then interpret, the many data.
Using computer databases, they develop
gene maps that help them to screen the
genetic profile for the genes behind spe-
cific plant properties. Then, using com-
puter analysis, researchers and breeders
even try to define complete crossing
programs for developing new varieties.
Our computer models now provide very
reliable forecasts before we even start
our field trials, Botterman confirms.
Whereas researchers have traditionally
identified the genes theyre interested in
on the basis of a plants appearance, the
team led by Dr. Bart Lambert, Product
Research Manager for Oilseeds in Bio-
Science performs exactly the opposite
of this process: using so-called reverse
genetics, the scientists change a gene
or gene network specifically in order to
equip the plant with a new characteris-
tic. To this end, they treat the seeds with
a substance that causes gene mutations,
which then become randomly distrib-
uted across the genome. Changes like
this also occur in nature. But we speed
up the process of evolution in a tar-
geted way, is how Lambert describes the
approach. Taking thousands of mutant
seed samples, the scientists use conven-
tional methods to select out individuals
that carry a promising mutation in their
genetic material, and then cross them
into new varieties.
Bayer CropScience wants to use reverse
genetics to solve a problem that cur-
rently faces many rapeseed farmers:
seeds often fall to the ground from
mature rape pods before harvesting.
BioScience researchers are developing
plants whose pods do not split so easily.
To this end, they have identified a spe-
cific gene that is involved in controlling
the development of pod tissues. They
now know how to change the activity
of the gene such that the rape pods are
more stable and thus more resistant
to splitting.
Developing new seeds:
speeding up evolution
Whilst providing their plants with the
capacity for higher yields and increased
resistance, the reserarch team at the
Innovation Center of Bayer CropScience
in Ghent also relies on the still relatively
young field of epigenetics. This line of
research deals with the influence of
environmental factors on networks of
genes. For example, the researchers were
able to clarify why some oilseed rape
plants grow better than others under
certain circumstances despite sharing
the same genetic make up. In fact, stress
can trigger the appearance in plant cells
of short, single-stranded ribonucleic
acid (RNA) molecules that turn off indi-
vidual genes and thereby inhibit plant
growth. If cell biologists can learn to
interpret these epigenetic mechanisms
even better, they will be able to use this
knowledge in future to switch on and off
genes in a more targeted way.
So from the targeted insertion of the
desired properties, through the switch-
ing on and off of individual genes or
networks of genes, to the traditional
methods of selecting and crossing
plant breeders now have an extensive
toolbox. And by cleverly combining
proven technologies, these processes
can be markedly accelerated. Take
hybrid breeding, for example: this
method takes advantage of the so-called
heterosis effect. This phenomenon can
be observed when crossing two pure-
bred parental lines that are genetically
as different as possible. They produce
Bart Lambert, Product
Researcher for oilseeds,
is working to develop
new canola varieties.
The Bayer CropScience researchers Dr. Jan
van den Berg and Paul Degreef check a new
tomato variety in the greenhouse, where
the plants are trained along white threads.
Ripe seeds fall from the pod
before they can be harvested
The ripe seeds stay
in the pod until they
are harvested
Four genes are active
Three genes are
inactive
Mutagenesis
Seedling breeding
Reverse genetics: Shatterproof pods for safer harvests
Selection and crossing of seedlings within
active gene
Four genes in the genetic material of oil-
seed rape are responsible for opening the
pods. Scientists use a substance to stimu-
late random mutations (mutagenesis) and
breed seedlings. They cross only plants in
which one of the relevant genes is inac-
tive. In this way, they develop oilseed rape
plants with pods that do not open until
they are harvested. Using reverse genetics,
breeders can accelerate natural evolution.
1 | 11 COURIER 17 BIOSCIENCE
Snips in the genetic material
In order to analyze the characteristics of a plant better,
breeders now produce genetic fingerprints from it. These
marker combinations act as a sort of bar code for iden-
tifying particular traits. The so-called SNP analysis is
much in use at the moment because it delivers particular-
ly good markers. With SNP short for single nucleotide
polymorphism the degree of variation among the indi-
vidual base pairs of a DNA strand is determined. These
SNPs pronounced snips are randomly-distributed
point mutations in the genome, tiny genetic differences
that continue to be inherited across the generations in
plants, animals and people. Since many of them correlate
with certain characteristics, they are useful guides to the
genome milestones along the highway, if you like.
Using fully-automated gene analysis and molecular markers,
Bayer CropSciences biotechnology experts are able to investigate
samples from several thousand plants each day. The results help
towards targeted breeding of vegetable varieties.
offspring that are capable of improved performance: the new
hybrids are better yielding and more stress-tolerant than con-
ventional varieties. Bayer CropScience is one of the leading
breeding companies of hybrid rice and oil seed rape varieties.
The breeding process itself is not a secret. The trick is rather
to determine the right locations to select parents with the right
properties that are suited to the particular markets in ques-
tion and then combine the right parents, says Paul Degreef,
Head of Plant Breeding at Nunhems. To meet the needs of
their customers, the researchers are turning to their global
infrastructure: with three research centers and 26 breeding
sites in 14 countries, there is a strong network of coopera-
tion with international colleagues along with an extensive
exchange of germplasm, usually material that already has
one or two interesting features. And this is where the new
molecular markers become important again: They are used to
identify the most promising lines from the large available pool
of seed, thus all the better to steer and speed up the selection
process, says Dirk Decherf, a oilseed rape breeder for Bayer
CropScience.
The molecular markers allow the development of an enor-
mous variety of new plants that differ only in terms of small
nuances, each of which meets a particular customers require-
ments. In this way, Nunhems has developed more than half of
its 2,500 varieties of vegetable seeds in just the last six years.
More will follow. Because the expectations made of each indi-
vidual seed remain great. t Clara Steffens
Robust plant growth Weak plant growth
MicroRNA in the plant is activated by external
stress factors. It controls the number and type of
proteins that are produced.
Nucleus
(with genetic
material)
Cell
mRNA
Proteins
A B
Energy
Stress factors
(e.g. heat,
drought and
frost)
Epigenetics: finding gene switches
Epigenetics looks at the impact of environmental factors on
genetic networks. Bayer scientists use it to investigate why
some oilseed rape plants thrive while other plants with identical
genes remain stunted. If the cellular processes take route A, the
plant will have high energy-storing characteristics and will grow
strongly. These plants are then used to continue breeding. Variant
B leads to low energy levels and weak plant growth. Scientists
can use this knowledge in future to selectively switch genes on
and off.
18 COURIER 1 | 11 INTERVIEW
Thanks to recent scientic progress, particularly in the eld of biotechnology, plant breeders
now have a well-lled toolbox at their disposal supporting their breeding activities towards
the release of new varieties matching the needs for the farmer and the customer. Dr. Johan
Botterman can conrm this. He is Head of Product Research in the BioScience Research division
of Bayer CropScience in Ghent, Belgium. The multidisciplinary teams are conducting research
towards the development of improved traits for our crops or of new tools supporting the breed-
ing programs. Recent, new investments will further strengthen the seeds and traits business.
Why is plant biotechnology such an important matter for Bayer
CropScience?
The plants of the future will better fit into environmentally-
compatible and climate-adapted farming approaches because
theyll use less water and yet produce more yield. We also want
to help to provide the growing world population with suf-
ficient quantities of high-quality food at affordable prices.
And how can the new breeding techniques help?
The various techniques used by biochemists and gene experts,
are already complementing the work of our breeders in a cru-
cial way: they make it possible to look deep inside the plant
through the leaves, stems and roots, and into the core of every
cell the genome in the cell nucleus. In this way, we can tell as
early as the seedling stage whether or not a plant will express
a particular feature. This saves time and money: if the develop-
ment of a variety using conventional breeding methods took
around ten years, biotechnological methods can now signifi-
cantly reduce the time needed to complete the selection process.
What is new about the plant biotechnological methods?
Thanks to advances in molecular biology, it is now possible to
characterize the properties of plants on the basis of the genes
they carry. And the more we learn about crops through the use
Investment in seeds and new plant characteristics
Using genetic
networks and
interdisciplinary
approaches
of biotechnology, the better we can identify the mechanisms
and genetic networks that underlie certain characteristics. We
can then target and change these networks.
Which particular characteristics do the researchers at
BioScience concentrate on?
Our teams in Ghent (Belgium), Morrisville (US) and the col-
leagues from Nunhems (Netherlands) pull rice, cotton, canola,
wheat, soybean and vegetable species through a real fitness
program: they improve the taste, shelf life and the processing
capabilities of e.g. tomatoes, and make crop plants more toler-
ant to stresses such as drought and nutrient deficiency. These
characteristics are much more complicated than those that
were targeted during the early days of plant biotechnology,
i.e. by plant genetic engineering.
How do the new methods differ from the classical plant genetic
engineering approaches?
Plant genetic engineering was basically limited to properties
such as insect resistance and herbicide tolerance for pest and
weed control. This early plant biotechnology work mostly
involved the introduction of single genes mostly bacterial in
origin into the gene pools of crops, and varieties of different
crops with these traits are currently on the market. Advances
1 | 11 COURIER 19 INTERVIEW
expand our research activities as well. A recent example is
the new greenhouse complex at Research Triangle Park, North
Carolina, the site of our U.S. Headquarters. Bayer CropSci-
ence is investing around 20 million U.S. dollars into this new
facility. The greenhouses are designed for research into both
genetically-modified and conventional plants. The greenhouse
complex being part of the new Innovation Centre at Morris-
ville will quickly develop into an important research center
for Bayer CropScience. In addition, we also would like to make
better use of the growing innovative strength in Asia; coun-
tries like China have defined agriculture as a strategic area of
their economy and are committed to fund innovation in this
sector in order to match the needs of their growing population.
What excites you most about plant biotechnology?
Mendels rules, chromosomes and epigenetics: these are all
important basics for modern genetics and cell biology, and
they were all discovered through work on the plant genome.
Only later were the findings applied to humans and further
explored for medical purposes. Research into plant molecular
biology is more diversified than the study of human cell biol-
ogy. Because each plant species brings its own challenges: rice
is built differently from rape, for example. And whereas one
rice variety can be resistant to flooding, another can immedi-
ately find itself under stress. t
in genome sequencing and biotechnology now offer us new
selection techniques that can equip plants with improved char-
acteristics such as tolerance to drought and nutrient and light
deprivation, or can increase their yield potential. Because of
the complexity of these properties, it is no longer sufficient
simply to introduce a single gene into a plant.
Your work involves dealing with large data sets. How do you
manage to keep an overview?
Of course, wherever large amounts of data are collected, the
support of bioinformaticians and statisticians and their tools
is essential. Here in Ghent for example, the number of bioin-
formaticians among the 300 staff has risen within a few years
from five to more than 30. And international cooperation is
becoming increasingly important to achieve success with our
research targets: we are already cooperating with numerous
companies, universities and other research institutions around
the world. And we want to integrate new technologies into our
portfolio even more intensively in the future.
So the BioScience unit will become even more important in
the future?
Yes, Bayer CropScience has recognized the seeds and traits
business as an attractive growth opportunity for further
investment and is willing to commit financial resources to
Researching for the future: with the help of his team, Dr. Johan Botterman, Head of BioScience
Product Research at Bayer CropScience, is searching for plants that are better suited to an
ecologically-balanced agriculture, and can also cope with changes in climatic conditions.
Extensive programs
for improving cul-
tivated plants such
as canola and rice
are running at the
Research Institute
in Gent.
20 COURIER 1 | 11 TECHNOLOGY
Protecting corn
seedlings against
competition
New corn herbicide Adengo revolutionizes early weed control
Early weed infestation is one of the most serious threats to maize crops. Bayer CropScience
can now ofer a novel approach to dealing with this problem: Adengo, an innovative her-
bicide that reliably removes even difcult-to-control weeds. A vital start for young corn
plants and greater security for farmers during a particularly sensitive stage of cultivation.
1 | 11 COURIER 21 TECHNOLOGY
Corn farmers dont have it
easy. They spend many a sleepless night
worrying about their crops. Its not just
pests such as the dreaded Western corn
rootworm that are the problem weedy
competitors can significantly affect the
corn plant too. Especially in the early
growth phase: as soon as the maize seed-
lings penetrate into the soil, they have to
start competing with all sorts of weeds for
water, light and nutrients. Without the
proper use of effective herbicides, the deli-
cate seedlings can lose this battle often
with serious consequences, as Raimund
Trapp knows: If something goes wrong
during early weed control in maize crops,
then yield losses in the double-digit per-
centage range can occur, says the Bayer
CropScience Global Segment Manager
for Maize Herbicides, based in Monheim,
Germany.
With Adengo, Bayer CropScience is now
offering a product that protects plants
against competition from weeds during
exactly this stage, thus allowing seedlings
to develop unhampered. This new broad-
spectrum herbicide is capable of reliable
control of more than 85 weedy grass and
broadleaved weed species. Over the last
few years, it has been brought onto the
market as Adengo in Argentina, Hungary,
Romania and Ukraine, and under the trade
name Corvus in the U.S. Further launches
in various countries around the globe are
planned over the next three years.
The great advantage of Adengo is that
it provides a so-called one-shot solution,
says Trapp. The new product is capable
of covering the entire spectrum of eco-
nomically important weeds in one pass.
This means that tank mixtures with other
herbicides or additional sprays are only
The Bayer CropScience
Corn Herbicide Man-
ager Raimund Trapp
gains a first-hand
impression of the effi-
cacy of Adengo.
With its new herbicide Adengo, Bayer
CropScience is offering farmers a prod-
uct that protects the crop from weed
competition during the vital early growth
phase. The young corn plants can develop
undisturbed.
22 COURIER 1 | 11
played its part in the attainment of an
award: it helped Ferenc Mik, a farmer
living in Central Hungary, to achieve a
spectacular harvest on his 1,800-hectare
area under cultivation: By producing
almost 18.4 tons per Hectare, the farmer
won the 2010 National Corn Yield Compe-
tition This represents peak yield both in
Hungary and in Europe, says Rikk.
High level of customer
satisfaction
Adengos special feature is its innova-
tive mixture of active substances. The
product combines two broadly effective
substances: isoxaflutole, a proven active
substance from the class of so-called
bleachers; and the ALS inhibitors thien-
necessary in exceptional cases. Because it
can be used from pre-emergence through
to the early post-emergence phase, the
new product is also the tool of choice for
farmers who want to be flexible in terms
of the timing of application. That means
a lightening of peak workloads for the
farmer, he points out. And because the
new herbicide only needs to be applied at
very low doses, the expenses of transport,
storage and disposal of packaging materi-
als are also lower.
Extended window of appli-
cation increases flexibility
Benefits that are already being appreci-
ated by many farmers. For example, in
Hungary: In the past, we had serious
problems with various weeds, such as
Panicum miliaceum and Echinochloa
crus-galli, says Tams Kkai, Head of
Crop Protection at Agro Systems Co. of
Herceghalom in central Hungary. But
Amaranth, Chenopodium, Datura, and
Xanthium were also of concern on the
companys 1,500-hectare area under cul-
tivation.
Problems that belong to the past now
thanks to Adengo. The products biggest
advantage is its broad spectrum of weed
control, explains Kkai. Followed by the
high degree of flexibility the new herbi-
cide offers by virtue of its long window of
application: We farm a large area. If the
weather doesnt cooperate, we may need
to interrupt the pre-emergence treatment
while the plants are already beginning
to germinate. But thats not a problem
with Adengo: the treatment can simply
continue in the post-emergence phase.
Words of approval that Istvn Rikk likes
to hear. Our customers are very satisfied
with Adengo, says the Crop Manager for
Corn and Sunflower with Bayer CropSci-
ence Hungary. Hes particularly proud of
the fact that the new product has even
Redroot amaranth
(Amaranthus retroflexus)
Jimson weed
(Datura stramonium)
Toms Kka is the Head of the Crop
Protection area for Agro Systems in
Central Hungary. His experiences with
Adengo have been very good.
The Hungarian farmer Ferenc
Mik was able to increase
the yield of his maize crops
with the help of Adengo.
Istvn Rikk, Crop Manager for
Bayer CropScience in Hungary,
knows that his customers are
highly satisfied with Adengo.
1 | 11 COURIER 23 TECHNOLOGY
carbazone-methyl, which was recently
developed in Bayer CropSciences labo-
ratories.
The two active substances target entirely
different metabolic processes. Isoxaflu-
tole ensures that the weed plant loses its
natural protection from sunlight. It does
this by blocking the activity of an enzyme
that is needed for the synthesis of the pig-
ment keratin, which otherwise protects
the green leaf pigment chlorophyll from
overexposure to light energy. The result:
the leaves whiten, and the weed collapses.
Thiencarbazone-methyl blocks a different
enzyme in the weeds one that is respon-
sible for the synthesis of three essential
amino acids that are ultimately needed for
a number of different proteins. Without
these three protein building blocks, the
plant stops growing and finally dies off.
The two substances act very effectively
against a broad range of plants, but are
generally well tolerated by maize crops.
In order to ensure that this compatibility
is consistent under various conditions,
Adengo also contains the substance
cyprosulfamide: this so-called safener
ensures that the active substances are
broken down very quickly specifically
by the corn plant. In this way, the crop is
protected, but the target weeds are killed
off quickly.
The two active substances are both soil-
and leaf-active: in pre-emergence treat-
ment, Adengo is sprayed to form a film
on the soil surface. As soon as rain trig-
gers germination, the weeds start to grow
through this film, taking up the active
substance in the process. It also enters the
plant through the roots and the hypocotyl
the lowermost section of the shoot axis.
After post-emergence sprays, weeds take
up the active substances via the young
leaves, as well as through the hypocotyl
and root.
A safener protects
maize plants
Corn growers beyond Hungary are also
enthusiastic about the new herbicide.
During 2010 in particular with its vari-
able weather conditions many of them
were able to benefit from a further advan-
tage: the mixture of active substances in
Adengo starts to become active just as
the weeds begin to germinate, i.e. as soon
as the soil is moist. During periods of
drought, they become temporarily inac-
tive only to resume their activity as soon
as it starts to rain again.
For corn experts, Adengo is also an impor-
tant tool for integrated weed manage-
ment, the specific objective of which is to
prevent the development of weed resist-
ance and to reduce the spread of existing
herbicide resistance. Adengo has already
proven itself an important element of
effective control strategies in many situ-
ations.
Given all of these qualities, it is no wonder
that Bayer CropScience is seeking to posi-
tion Adengo at the top of the list of early
weed control segment herbicides. Adengo
has the potential to become every corn
growers personal number one herbicide
all around the world, Trapp summarizes
the feed back of his country colleagues:
The high degree of acceptance already
shown in five countries is an encouraging
sign. t Katja Nau
Common millet
(Panicum miliaceum)
Barnyard grass
(Echinochloa crus-galli)
Rough cocklebur
(Xanthium strumarium)
24 COURIER 1 | 11 PANORAMA 24 COURIER 1 | 11
Without any support from harvest-
ing machinery, farmers hand-pick
the ripe fruits from cocoa trees. The
skin of the pods can then be opened
with a machete.
Soft outside, hard centre: the
delicate creation slowly liquefies on the
tongue at first, then gradually begins
to melt faster the sweet covering of
dark chocolate dissolves away, finally
revealing a small green pistachio ker-
nel. When chocolate melts in the mouth,
its a magical, almost heavenly feeling.
Only perfect cocoa delivers the perfect
taste, says Urs Liechti, Master Choco-
latier at Lindt, an international choco-
late maker based in Switzerland. Thats
why the 18th Century Swedish natural-
ist Carl von Linn gave the cocoa tree
on which chocolate production entirely
depends the botanical name Theo-
broma cacao, which is Greek for food of
the gods. These days, years of breeding
activity have resulted in the availability
of many different varieties.
The most important varieties for cocoa
production are called Criollo, Foras-
tero and Trinitario. Two of these varie-
ties Criollo and Trinitario produce
fine-quality cocoa and are well-known
among gourmets as being the best in
the world; however, their joint produc-
tion represents less than five per cent
of the world crop. The problem is, they
are particularly vulnerable to pests and
diseases. In contrast, the third variety,
Forastero, is more resistant, which is
why it makes up more than 80 percent of
the worlds production. Its cocoa is less
intense to the taste-buds, and is rather
for everyday consumption.
The condition of the beans is important
for achieving the perfect taste just as
only ripe pineapples have a good flavor,
says the cocoa and chocolate expert Urs
Liechti. The degree of maturation and
fermentation must also be just right.
This is why he and his colleagues always
check samples of new shipments before
purchasing. At this point though, the
cocoa tastes very different from the final
chocolate product: sharp, slightly sour,
and bitter and without foreign flavors
is how Liechti describes it.
It was precisely because of this bitter
taste that the Spanish conquistadors
were initially unenthusiastic about the
drink made from the Central American
bean. The greasy beverage was appar-
A bitter bean
thats in hot demand
The more delicate the fruit, the more susceptible the plants are to pests and diseases.
And when it comes to their growing environment, cocoa trees are very choosy. Only
the warmest and wettest tropical regions will do such as those found in the Ivory
Coast, Brazil and Indonesia. From there, the precious beans are transported to Europe
and North America, where the most chocolate is consumed in puddings, as mousse,
in champagne trufes, as chocolate bars or in chocolate nuts. There is no limit to the
diversity of expression of the chocolates seductive sweetness.
Cocoa is a valuable export product
1 | 11 COURIER 25 PANORAMA
High-quality cocoa and just the right recipe are need-
ed to give the various types of chocolate and pralines
their characteristic aroma. And at the very end of the
production process lies the confectionary wrapping,
the promise of the exquisite taste to come.
ently so far removed from being a pleas-
urable experience that the Pope even
gave his blessing for it to be drunk dur-
ing lent. This is why cocoa landed first
in the pharmacy, as a bitter medicine to
be taken by emaciated patients. Broader
success came only when the chocolate
was sweetened with sugar. These days,
Europeans and North Americans are the
most dedicated consumers of chocolate
bars, pralines etc. The front-runners in
terms of consumption include Switzer-
land and Germany: according to the
Association of Swiss chocolate manu-
facturers, the Swiss population con-
sumed an average of twelve kilograms
of chocolate each in 2010, equivalent to
120 bars per person.
Cocoa food
of the Gods
But the main consuming countries of
Europe and North America cant pro-
vide the demanding growing conditions
required by cocoa trees: Theobroma
cacao only grows in the warmest and
wettest tropical regions, between lati-
tudes 20 degrees north and 20 degrees
south. The most important producing
countries today are the Ivory Coast,
Cameroon, Ghana, Nigeria, Brazil, Ecua-
dor, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
The beans are harvested, fermented and
dried by hand a labor-intensive pro-
cess.
While the coveted cocoa beans are pro-
duced mainly in Africa, South America
and Asia, the major producers of choco-
late and cocoa products are located in
Europe and North America. Most pro-
cessing of raw cocoa takes place there
too. According to Caobisco, the Manu-
facturers Association, the European
confectionery industry consumes about
half the worlds cocoa bean production,
sourcing mainly from Africa.
Speculation leads to
distortion of the market
When not being used for pralines and
fine chocolate, cocoa is usually used
in powder form as a raw material for
sauces, cookies, ice cream, chocolate
mousse, puddings, chocolate drinks
and other sweet products. Cocoa also
serves as the basis for most confection-
ary glazes. Cocoa butter is formed as a
by-product in the production of cocoa
powder, and it is mostly used in choco-
late. But cocoa butter is also used in the
pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries,
for example in lotions and creams: even
some spa bath products contain essences
of the popular bean these days.
Cocoa is traded primarily on the com-
modity futures exchanges in London
and New York. As recently as July
2010, the cocoa price in London rose to
its highest level in 33 years; in other
words, the key ingredient of chocolate
had risen in price by 50 percent within
a year. Production (around 3.6 million
tonnes of cocoa beans in 2009/2010,
according to ICCO, the International
Cocoa Organization) can hardly keep up
with the growing demand, so the situa-
tion in the cocoa market remains tense.
And the bitter taste is spreading: trad-
ers and processing companies have been
complaining recently about an increase
in speculation on agricultural markets,
fearing that it will produce severe mar-
ket distortions. Indeed, about 60 million
tonnes of cocoa beans are traded every
year several times the actual global
harvest, which itself is also vulnerable
to various pressures. For example the
export ban imposed at the beginning of
2011 by the Ivory Coast the worlds
largest cocoa supplier, with production
of one million tons per year which
led to another price hike. By late Feb-
ruary of this year, the price of cocoa
had reached a peak again, at 3.81 U.S.
dollars per kilo. High cocoa prices are
likely to impact on consumer prices in
the medium term.
For some 6.5 million farmers world-
wide, cocoa is the crop that guarantees
their ability to make a living. While the
majority of the African harvest is bought
up by Europe, Indonesia exports mainly
to other Asian countries and to North
and South America. We cant provide a
substitute for the African cocoa, because
the quality of our produce is not accept-
26 COURIER 1 | 11 PANORAMA
Cocoa mealybug (Planococcus
lilacinus) infestation on mature
cocoa pods.
Symptoms of the fungus Oncoba-
sidium theobromae on infected cocoa
leaves.
Help against
diseases and pests
Fungi, viruses and other pests: cocoa has
many enemies. The fine-quality cocoa varie-
ties are particularly vulnerable, and are hard-
ly able to defend themselves. When cocoa pod
borer larvae hatch from their eggs, they bore
into the cocoa fruit, eating the flesh, and leav-
ing an entry hole for other pests. Something is
needed to prevent the moths from continuing
to spread and destroying much of the harvest:
Bayer CropScience has a product in its port-
folio that targets precisely this type of biting
and sucking insects the insecticide Decis.
Farmers also have a lot of problems with the
fungus Oncobasidium theobromae, especially
in Southeast Asia: cocoa trees under attack
by this pathogen lose their leaves and die off.
Bayer CropScience can support cocoa farmers
here, too the fungicide Bayfidan can check
the progress of the epidemic. And the herbi-
cide Basta also helps to control unwanted
plant intruders in the plantations.
able to the European market, says Zul-
hefi Sikumbang, the chairman of the
Indonesian Cocoa Association.
Cocoa farmers in Africa, Asia and South
America are often faced with similar
challenges: for Theobroma cacao is a
very vulnerable tree. Serious crop losses
through pests and diseases are common,
and farmers must do everything they
can to protect their trees. This is why
they depend on pesticides in their battle
against the cocoa pod borer and fungal
diseases such as Phytophthora pod rot.
Otherwise, they can reckon with yield
losses of up to 50 percent. To increase
productivity and income from their
plantations, farmers in Malaysia are
increasingly planting catch crops or
even moving out of cocoa production
altogether: the trend is for growing oil
palm and rubber trees, explains Teo
Kee Chiong, Crop Manager for Planta-
tions with Bayer CropScience Malay-
sia. Overall, the cultivation of cocoa in
Malaysia has fallen steadily from a peak
of 414,000 hectares in 1989 to around
20,000 hectares in 2010. The reasons
for this include low prices on the world
market and a growing labor shortage.
More and more cocoa must therefore be
imported for further processing, accord-
ing to Kee Chiong. These days, more
than 70 percent of the cocoa beans that
are processed in Malaysia come from
plantations in Indonesia.
Susceptible to pests
and diseases
According to Final Prajnanta, Head
of Marketing at Bayer CropScience in
Jakarta, Indonesia, his country is the
second largest producer of cocoa in the
world behind the Ivory Coast. Ninety
percent of the cocoa area there is cul-
tivated by small farmers a total of
1.6 million hectares in 2009, grown
mainly in Sulawesi and Sumatra. But
the Indonesians themselves consume on
average only 600 grams per person per
year. While about 10 percent of cocoa
production stays with our local choco-
late producers, 90 percent is exported,
reports Prajnanta. In 2009, a disaster
hit the farmers: the entire harvest from
70,000 hectares of cocoa was lost either
to moths, or to fungal diseases; on a
further 235,000 hectares, the harvest
shrank by about a half.
This is why it would be helpful to have
plants with stronger resistance. But
researchers have long considered cocoa
1 | 11 COURIER 27
Only the perfect bean delivers the perfect aroma
The exact recipe for producing each type of chocolate remains, of course, a secret.
Nevertheless, Urs Liechti likes to give his visitors an insight into the art of the
cocoa processing. Liechti is Master Chocolatier at Lindt, an international choco-
late maker with its company headquarters in Kilchberg, Switzerland.
Why is good-quality cocoa such an important prerequisite for good chocolate?
Because we can only create the perfect flavor using the perfect bean. But every-
thing has to be just right from the maturation process through to the fermenta-
tion and final processing of the cocoa mass. The most important element here
really is the cocoa bean: if the quality is not right there, then the chocolate wont
taste good. Thats why we make sure that all cocoa deliveries go through strict
quality controls as soon as they arrive here.
How does each different type of chocolate develop its own unique taste?
That depends on how the different varieties of cocoa are blended together in the
end, that is the secret recipe of each chocolate manufacturer. But the processing
is also important: the cocoa mass is mixed with sugar (and for milk chocolate,
with milk powder too) and often a little vanilla as well. Then the chocolate has to
be rolled out thinly: otherwise, the cocoa and sugar particles would leave a sandy
feeling in the mouth. We then conch the chocolate kneading and stirring it for
several hours and only then does it develop its unique flavor and ability to melt
easily in the mouth. By the way, this process was invented by Rudolph Lindt in
the 19th Century. It went on to revolutionize the world of chocolate.
Which sorts of chocolate are in at the moment?
Recently, there has been especially strong demand for dark chocolate with a high
cocoa content and a very intense chocolaty taste, but now milk chocolate and
dark chocolate with a cocoa content of approximately 50 to 60-percent are in
again. At the moment, our customers in Switzerland are particularly keen on
chocolate bars on which we have neatly scattered certain ingredients: for exam-
ple, a combination of pistachios, almonds and orange pieces.
Urs Liechti, Master Chocolatier at Lindt in Kilchberg, Switzerland, gives an insight
into what is expected of the cocoa that is used in producing chocolate.
an orphan crop, a sort of poor rela-
tion among agricultural plants: com-
pared with other crops, such as cereals
and rice, it has received comparatively
little scientific attention. Nevertheless,
two research groups independently
announced the sequencing of the Theo-
broma genome in 2010. This means
that researchers can now look for the
sections of the genome that determine
the low resistance of Theobroma cacao.
According to the New York Times, some
scientists are even optimistic that apply-
ing genetic breeding expertise to cocoa
could bring about a five-fold increase
in yield per hectare. If this were ever
realized, it would ease the situation on
the world market so that melt-in-the-
mouth chocolate can be savored again
without leaving a bitter taste on the
tongue. t Clara Steffens
28 COURIER 1 | 11
Weeds are a bane to
farmers. But they also cause problems
in an area that the layman would hardly
suspect forestry. For many young trees,
these aggressive plants present a serious
threat, because they compete with the
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
For the last ve years, Bayer CropScience has been helping its customers in the
forestry business to plant trees on an industrial scale and to keep them healthy.
The company will soon be bringing a new broad-spectrum herbicide onto the
market: Esplanade. This is particularly good news for the plantation sector.
Sustainable forestry
New woods from
the glasshouse
Most tree nurseries use rapid-growing,
high-yielding varieties, which they raise
in the glasshouse for about 80 to 90 days,
before transplanting out into the field.
still delicate saplings for essential soil
nutrients and water. At worst, they can
flourish at the expense of the trees.
This is why weed control is also an
important matter in forestry. And there
will soon be a new tool to support this
activity: In 2012, we will launch the
new active substance indaziflam into
the forestry market under the leading
brand name Esplanade at first in
Argentina, then in Brazil, Chile, Aus-
tralia and other countries, enthuses
Flavio Brandao, Forestry Manager for
Bayer CropSciences Environmental Sci-
ence business unit.
This new substance, which is from the
chemical class of alkylazines, controls
a broad spectrum of broad-leaved and
1 | 11 COURIER 29 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
grassy weeds, among them certain
species that are otherwise particularly
difficult to control. It provides long-
lasting efficacy at low application rates.
The trick: indaziflam inhibits the target
plants ability to synthesize cellulose,
an essential component of cell walls. If
weeds are treated with indaziflam after
they have germinated, their cells burst,
and growth stops dead. Seedlings that
are in the process of germinating at the
time of treatment show inhibited root-
development, whereas ungerminated
seeds exposed to the product fail to
germinate altogether.
Market experience with the new active
substance is currently being gained
through its use in lawn and golf course
maintenance. Indaziflam has been on the
U.S. market in this sector since Decem-
ber 2010. Brandao is convinced that the
forestry industry will also respond enthu-
siastically to this innovative herbicide.
Indaziflam already starts controlling
weeds at the pre-emergence stage, so it
is the suitable complement to products
that are already being used to control the
fully-grown plants, a fact that will be of
particular interest to customers.
Flavio Brandao, who comes from Brazil,
is the Forestry Manager responsible for
Bayer CropSciences Forestry Plantation
business segment, which was founded
in 2005. Its main target is a particu-
larly promising segment of the for-
estry sector: the plantation market. The
The young plants are sensitive to attack by pests and diseases
during the early stages of growth in the raising box. Fungicides
and insecticides are often applied as standard treatments to
keep the plants healthy.
Almost a football
pitch for each person

Our planet is graced by over four
billion hectares of forest. Thats
equivalent to 30.3 percent of the
global land surface and corresponds
to an average of 0.6 hectares (6000
square meters) slightly less than
the area of a football field per
head of population. The five most
densely-forested countries are: the
Russian Federation, Brazil, Cana-
da, the United States and China,
which together carry more than
half of the global forest area.
The total global area under forest
declined by 5.2 million hectares
a year between 2000 and 2010.
At the same time, the propor-
tion of planted forest continued to
increase, growing by around five
million hectares in the same peri-
od. In 2010, planted forest repre-
sented seven percent of the worlds
total forest area. This is equivalent
to 264 million hectares.
Source: The Global Forest Resources Assessment
2010 (FRA 2010); Food and Agriculture Organi-
zation of the United Nations (FAO)
Flavio Brandao lives in Brazil. He is
the Forestry Manager responsible
for Bayer CropSciences Forestry
Plantation segment.
30 COURIER 1 | 11 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
main actors here are the large forestry
companies whose goal is to cultivate
high-yielding trees especially for the
production of paper pulp and lumber.
This involves raising young trees in the
greenhouse and then transplanting them
out into plantations. The species of most
interest to the industry is pine, followed
by eucalyptus, teak, poplar, acacia and
mahogany. The wood can be harvested
from five to 40 years after transplanta-
tion: the exact timing depends on the
particular tree species.
Broad portfolio of
products and services
The trees need most care and protection
during the first two years of growth,
because this is the period of greatest vul-
nerability to competition from a variety
of broad-leaved and grassy weeds. But
weeds are not the only problem. Even
insects such as the leaf-cutting ant or
the bark beetle can cause considerable
harm to trees. This makes the targetted,
professional use of herbicides and insec-
ticides particularly important and Fla-
vio Brandao and his staff are there to
help.
With a total of 20 different brands, we
have the broadest portfolio of products
and solutions to help the forestry sector
to maximise yields explains Brandao.
Bayer CropSciences main target group
in the plantation market are the large
paper and pulp companies. Our cus-
tomers are very technology-oriented
and open to any new developments
that can increase productivity. The
search for new active substances and
approaches succeeds through close col-
laboration between Bayer CropSciences
Crop Protection and Environmental Sci-
ence divisions.
But the activities are not restricted to
the sale of products: We offer com-
plete solutions, emphasizes Brandao.
Examples include regular visits to the
greenhouses and plantations, consistent
support and advice on raising, trans-
planting and subsequent care of the
trees and even more: At the moment,
we are investigating the extent to which
our products have a positive effect on
the CO
2
emissions of one of our major
Brazilian customers.
Seal of approval for
sustainable agriculture
Among the key partners in these activi-
ties are the Forest Stewardship Coun-
cil (FSC) and the Programme for the
Endorsement of Forest Certification
Schemes (PEFC). Both organizations are
committed to promoting sustainable
forestry, and they issue the correspond-
Bayer CropSciences experts meet
regularly in order to exchange
their knowledge of tree-raising and
to discuss new, innovative ways of
keeping tree crops healthy.
The popularity of Eucalyptus for the
wood processing industry lies in its
ability to grow quickly and to produce
high-quality wood.
ing international seals of quality. Our
customers share our ideals regarding the
stewardship of the living environment,
explains Brandao: Almost all of the
companies we cooperate with are FSC-
certified, and are interested in solutions
that are compatible with the principles
behind the certification.
At the moment, the main market for the
Forestry Plantation business segment is
Latin America, especially Brazil. How-
ever, the U.S. and Australia are also
important. In future, Brandao and his
co-workers are particularly interested
in winning new markets in Asia. Of
course we want to continue to grow in
the existing markets. But we are also
planning new activities in China and
Indonesia, where we hope to be able
to apply the experience weve already
gained in the Latin American countries.
And a whole new business segment
could become ever more important
in future: the planting of various
tree species for nature conservation
or other non-commercial purposes.
1 | 11 COURIER 31 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE | NEWS IN BRIEF
Strengthening the
product portfolio
for cereals
Thanks to the registrations for the new fungicide bixafen in
the United Kingdom and Germany Bayer CropScience is able
to strengthen the product portfolio for use in cereal crops.
Farmers in both countries can thus benefit from the new fun-
gicides advantages in the fight against fungal diseases in
wheat and barley. Bayer CropScience is marketing the product
under the main brand name Aviator Xpro. Registrations in
other European countries for products based on the new active
ingredient are expected to follow soon.
Bayer is also investing considerable resources in research and
development to increase the productivity of wheat cultivation
and develop outstanding new varieties. For example, Bayer
CropScience and Israeli company Evogene have entered into
a five-year collaboration to accelerate the development and
commercialization of improved wheat varieties. Improvements
will be pursued for wheat yield, drought tolerance and fertilizer
use efficiency. Bayer has also acquired the wheat breeding pro-
grams of two Ukrainian breeding companies, SORT and EURO-
SORT, based in Mironivka near the capital Kiev. The agreement
will give Bayer CropScience access to outstanding wheat lines
with excellent winter hardiness and drought tolerance.
To improve wheat breeding and generate new wheat varie-
ties, the company has signed a non-exclusive agreement with
the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the United States. This
public-private partnership will allow both parties to expand
their wheat breeding programs and make innovative solutions
available to wheat growers. t
Bayer is also investing considerable resources into research
and development in order to increase the productivity of
wheat cultivation.
From firewood to waste paper

Wood fuel
India (17 percent), China (10), Brazil (8), Ethio-
pia (5), Democratic Republic of Congo (4)
Industrial roundwood
USA (21 percent), Brazil (9), Russian Federation
(8), Canada (7), China (7)
Sawn wood
USA (17 percent), Canada (9), China (9), Brazil (7),
Germany (6), Russian Federation (5), Sweden (4)
Wood-based materials
China (36 percent), USA (11), Germany (6),
Canada (4), Russian Federation (3), Brazil (3),
Poland (3)
Pulp for paper
USA (27 percent), China (10), Canada (10),
Brazil (8), Sweden (7), Finland (5), Japan (5),
Russian Federation (4)
Recycled paper
USA (23 percent), China (14), Japan (12),
Germany (8), United Kingdom (4), South Korea
(4), Spain (3), France (3), Italy (3)
Paper and cardboard
China (24 percent), USA (19), Japan (6),
Germany (6), Canada (3), Indonesia (3); Sweden
(3), Finland (3); South Korea (3).
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Here, the use of chemical crop protec-
tion products is mostly prohibited, but
pest management methods based on
biological agents is allowed. We also
expect to be successful in this area,
predicts Brandao. Work is in full swing
in our Development department. t
Katja Nau
www.bayercropscience.com
Longer-lasting weed control
The innovative non-selective herbicide Alion has been granted regulatory approval in the
United States. Alion was developed primarily for use in perennial crops such as citrus,
tree nut, grapes, pome and stone fruit. The market launch of Alion in the United States is
planned later this year. Further registrations for Alion are expected in Central and South
America in 2011.
Alion controls a broad spectrum of weeds and provides excellent crop safety. It can be
used preemergent and applied alone or in a tank mix with other herbicides. Another
advantage for the farmer is the low application rate. Because of the long-lasting
action and the broad spectrum of activity, the number of applications can be
reduced. Furthermore, Alion will be an effective tool to manage weed popu-
lations that are resistant to other modes of action. These characteristics
make Alion an environmentally compatible and pioneering product in
the global non-selective herbicides market.
OutLook