DowDuPont Chief Operating Officer James C. Collins, Jr. presented an update on the Agriculture Division financial performance and strategic progress during the 2018 Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Agriculture & Chemicals Conference – including a peek into the R&D pipeline for Corteva Agriscience, DowDuPont’s agriculture spinoff company that was first announced last week.
Collins presented a first look at the combined R&D pipeline – highlighting technology solutions in the Seed and Crop Protection business platforms that, together with innovation progress in the unique cross-platform and emerging digital agriculture areas, are expected to enable near-term results and strengthen the Agriculture Division’s long-term competitive position, he said.
“The industry-leading innovation pipelines we’re bringing together have robust offerings today,” Collins said. “Our scientists and experts are making critical headway in important areas such as targeted breeding and digital agriculture – all while delivering advanced biotechnology, crop protection and agronomic solutions that farmers need.” Programs in the broader product pipeline are expected to deliver peak sales of greater than $22 billion over the long term.
In the Seed platform, Collins commented on the value of its leading competitive position across key market segments and geographic regions – and presented examples of how this position and continued technology innovation are supporting ongoing sales strength in Seed.
Pointing to its solid North America presence and strengthening global position as primary drivers, Collins highlighted key anticipated Seed launches expected to enable near-term progress such as Enlist and Qrome in North America, as well as ramp-up of Leptra and PowerCore penetration and introduction of Conkesta E3 soybeans in Latin America. “Longer term, increased strength and depth across core Insect and Herbicide trait areas will serve as key drivers in enabling this combined pipeline to deliver against multigenerational needs for insect and weed control,” Collins said.
Collins provided an update on recent achievements in the Division’s breeding portfolio that continue to accelerate scale and quality of the combined breeding pipeline. Collins said, “We are expanding the strength of our digital breeding technology and utilizing innovative methods to drive productivity and shorten our time to market.” Collins commented on recent early success in targeted breeding, “We are quickly adopting and deploying CRISPR-Cas technology to accelerate development of new trait concepts broadly across crops.”
Recent technology collaborations and innovation advances at the intersection of the Seed and Crop Protection business platforms are enabling an emerging cross-platform innovation leadership position for the Division – with innovations such as the full Enlist system and recent seed applied technology advancements as most notable proof points.
