Bayer announces crop protection innovations at Show Rural Coopavel 2025

Multinational Bayer presented new crop protection solutions at the Show Rural Coopavel 2025 while highlighting upcoming biotechnology launches for soybeans and corn that will be exclusively available to the Brazilian market in the coming years.

The major innovation announced during the fair was Nativo Plus, which entered the Brazilian market this year. According to Rodrigo Nuernberg, Business Unit Leader for Crop Protection in Bayer's South Central region, the systemic and contact fungicide and bactericide contains tebuconazole, trifloxystrobin, and copper oxychloride in its composition and should be used preventively before symptom appearance.

According to Nuernberg, the launch will help improve efficiency in managing resistant diseases in soybean crops, potentially leading to reduced chemical application volumes. As a facilitator for regenerative agriculture benefits, the combination of efficient actives for managing end-of-cycle soybean diseases in the product's composition ensures agricultural production sustainability.

"The innovation was designed to complement management, being especially important in combating difficult-to-control diseases such as Asian rust and target spot," the Business Unit Leader said.

Pending federal approval and expected to be available in 2026, Bayer will launch a new herbicide that represents a significant advance in weed control. Diflufenican, a novel active ingredient in the country, has pre-emergent action. Together with Metribuzin, Bayer stated that the herbicides will provide broad-spectrum control, especially for goosegrass and Amaranthus sp.

Estimates from Bayer's weed monitoring system indicate that by 2030, about seven million Brazilian hectares could be infested with Amaranthus sp populations resistant to other pesticides, making this launch crucial for plant elimination.

The company is also preparing to launch Spidoxamat, an active ingredient for controlling sucking insects in soybean and cotton crops. With an innovative action mode that controls eggs and nymphs while blocking female reproduction, it helps reduce pest populations in the field. It is 100% selective to natural enemies, creating no negative impact on system biodiversity.

Fabiano Oliveira, Bayer Brazil's Soybean Business Leader, stated, "By combining our innovation platforms, we are developing integrated solutions to address the most urgent and future challenges. This systemic approach aligns with our regenerative agriculture vision. Thanks to our solutions, farmers can cultivate and protect their crops while optimizing and regenerating natural resource use while sustainably increasing productivity and profitability."

This integration brought by Bayer's portfolio directly impacts seed cultivation with latest-generation biotechnologies, leading Brazilian farmers to achieve new productivity levels, with increasingly frequent reports of records above 100 soybean bags per hectare with Bayer's Intacta2 Xtend (i2x) soybean platform.

"For the 2024-2025 season alone, producers had access to approximately 194 i2x and Xtend Biotec varieties, adapted for all producing regions in the country, representing the largest cultivar portfolio in the market. Show Rural Coopavel visitors will have at least 85 varieties from the i2x Platform available," Fabiano said.

According to him, the trend is that the approaching record harvest will confirm the importance of having complete solutions and cutting-edge biotechnology regardless of climate challenges. "Paraná producers who planted i2x recorded significant growth in average productivity. The forecast is that we'll now see a record harvest," he stated.

Bayer's soybean business leader also emphasized that developing biotechnology isn't a quick process, potentially taking up to 14 years with continuous investments. However, when there's collaboration throughout the sector chain, a favorable environment for innovation, and legal security, these solutions significantly impact Brazilian agriculture.

"To give you an idea, Bayer already has the third generation of Intacta soybeans practically ready and the fourth in field tests, as well as two new corn biotechnologies, one of which could represent a revolution for the crop with a low-stature plant. All this is part of the plan to offer new biotechnologies for the next 10 years, focusing on more productive, profitable, and sustainable agriculture," Oliveira said in conclusion.

(Editing by Leonardo Gottems, reporter for AgroPages)