DuPont To Cut Pesticides
11 December 2006 Herbicide and insecticide production at 10 sites will be reduced, company spokesman Doyle Karr said, and some products may be discontinued. The agriculture unit has 250 sites globally and the job cuts affect 10% of the unit’s 15,000 employees.
North American seed orders for 2007 planting are strong, and sales of genetically modified seeds with three benefits will increase 10-fold to 10% of total US maize sales, the company said. St. Louis-based Monsanto said Nov. 30 that “triple-stack” seeds, the most profitable, will account for 35% of branded US maize-seed sales, as US growers expect strong maize prices in 2007.
DuPont is developing seeds with Dow Chemical Co., reducing reliance on technology from Monsanto, which sells licenses to more than 200 rivals. DuPont’s Herculex technology will be in 70% of the company’s insect-resistant maize seed next year, up from 50% in 2006. The company plans to sell a competing herbicide-resistant corn seed in 2009.
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