DuPont business, Pioneer Hi-Bred, introduced the first “in-the-bag” seed refuge system to farmers last week during the Commodity Classic, the industry’s premier agricultural trade show and convention.

The new insect protection system, Optimum® AcreMax™, will provide corn growers with improved productivity by increasing the number of acres farmers can plant as the industry’s most advanced insect control options.  The first phase of Optimum® AcreMax™    insect protection will be launched as early as 2009, pending regulatory approval.  The system will eliminate the need for farmers to plant separate corn borer and corn rootworm refuges with their Pioneer® brand Bt corn hybrids.

“Pioneer is using innovation and science, and the strongest traits in the industry, to give U.S. growers a superior solution to protect crops from yield-robbing insect damage,” said Frank Ross, Pioneer vice president, North America Operations.  “For the first time, farmers will be able to plant all their acres with a single product that satisfies refuge requirements.”

The Optimum® AcreMax™system is made possible through the industry-leading insect control technology of Herculex® XTRA, which not only provides the most effective control of corn rootworm, but also is highly effective against above-ground insects including corn borer, western bean cutworm and black cutworm.

“The Optimum® AcreMax™system will help farmers as soon as next year -- well ahead of any of our competitors,” said Bill Niebur, DuPont vice president, Crop Genetics Research and Development. “And each generation of the Optimum® AcreMax™ system will build on the last, bringing farmers greater convenience, yield potential and efficacy.”

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