News Crop protection
RoundUp with friendly image in the making
Monsanto, the producer of RoundUp, is working on a future-proof alternative that is also based on the active ingredient glyphosate. For example, Nadine Vogels, the German agricultural director of Monsanto, announced at the DLG Feldtage.
The current license of glyphosate ends in the European Union (EU) in 2022, after a long and laborious re-registration procedure last year. However, inventor Monsanto is working on a successor who, according to CEO Stefan Kocher, will be admitted for 15 years. The company is working hard on a file for admission. That writes the German agraheute.
Friendly image
It is a successor to RoundUp Powerflex, a glyphosate product without the addition of other herbicides. By adding new wetting agents, it should be possible to administer the product at lower doses and to be absorbed more quickly by the plant. "A quick uptake means fewer yellow-colored plots that do no good for the image of conventional agriculture," says Vogels.
Monsanto's sales of RoundUp have halved in 5 years. However, this concerns 2.750 tons of active ingredient that is produced annually. The new drug should be on the market in 2020, Monsanto Germany expects.
Not a word about company takeover
The crop protection product producer presented itself during the DLG Feldtage under the old Monsanto flag. Behind the scenes, the takeover by Bayer is being completed. To do this, the necessary branches of industry must first be sold to BASF. The employees were not allowed to talk about the takeover during the arable days. Some 17% of Monsanto's 110 German employees have now been laid off.
Niels van der Boom
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