Syngenta Seeds Inc. has a new platform for future Syngenta insect control seed traits. When Syngenta announced the Agrisure Viptera seed trait in April, the significance of receiving registration/deregulation of the new trait, which is the first non-crystalline protein mode of action, seemed lost to many within the agricultural industry.

Corn earworm and black cutworm are two problem insects that Agrisure Viptera has the ability to control. It also demonstrates the insect control capable from early season to late season, explained Chris Cook, vice-president of field agronomy for Syngenta Seeds. There has not been previous control of either insect via a seed trait comparable to what Viptera can provide, Cook said. In total the trait controls about 14 insects that attack field corn, he added.

Nearly 60 Agrisure Viptera comparison field plots have been established in corn country this year to show the effectiveness of the new trait combined with the Agrisure 3000GT insect control trait. "We have done a phenomenal amount of testing on Viptera and seen its effectiveness in insect control from corn emergence to tasseling," said Cook.

Gary Carr, seed and chemical sales for Farmers Elevator and Exchange at Monroe City, Mo., was impressed with the Agrisure Viptera demonstration he saw in 2009. "It was quite a show of performance," he said of a regulated plot in St. Charles County at the beginning of August. "When farmers see this new technology, they'll be impressed, too," Carr said. "There wasn't a real heavy insect pressure in the plot, but it still had a good yield advantage over seed without the Viptera trait."

Cutworm control alone is worth the farmer considering a Viptera trait seed, Carr said. "If we can eliminate the threat of cutworms, I know we can save customers yield and money by not having to apply insecticides or replant. There also is the convenience factor of having control in the seed package," he said.

"Every grower you talk to has had black cutworm at some point, and in some areas growers have at least a low level of black cutworms each year," Cook suggested. Checking for cutworms several times across every corn field during a critical two or three weeks just doesn't happen, and low-level cutworm pressure reduces the corn stand, which reduces yield.

"When we look at Agrisure Viptera specifically for corn earworm control, it will provide control similar to the corn borer control farmers have come to expect from their seed. It provides complete control; we don't worry about a high infestation level breaking through to damage the corn," Cook said.

Syngenta admits that it might not have fully explained the significance of the new trait and how it will be marketed in 2011. The new trait, Agrisure Viptera, expresses the Vip3A protein, which is a vegetative insecticidal protein that attacks insects in a different point of the mid-gut than Bt crystalline proteins. Agrisure Viptera 3111 is the new combination seed trait of Agrisure 3000GT and Agrisure Viptera. The Agrisure Viptera 3111 provides corn borer control, rootworm control, control of many other insects for a total of 14, plus plant tolerance to glyphosate and glufosinate active ingredient herbicides, explained Cook.

The Agrisure Viptera trait has the power to help U.S. corn growers recoup an estimated 238 million bushels of corn and $1.1 billion in annual yield and grain quality losses due to multi-pest complex or the 14 insects not regularly treated against or controlled, Syngenta claims. Additionally, beyond in-field yield and grain quality reductions, the damage from the multiple insects also allows spores from fungi to gain access, proliferate and produce mycotoxins or disease problems to potentially further reduce yields.

It would appear that Agrisure Viptera trait seed deserves some attention for three main claims — completely new mode of action, widest spectrum insect control of any one seed trait and the Syngenta platform for all future seed traits.