Bayer’s new “Intacta 5+” technology promises farmers more tools against weeds and insects — and locks Brazil even more tightly into a chemically intensive model of soybean production.
On a hot November morning in Mato Grosso, Brazil’s soy heartland, the problem in many fields is not that the crop looks weak. The plants are tall and vigorous. The issue is that the weeds look vigorous too.
After two decades of reliance on glyphosate-tolerant soybeans, Brazil’s farmers are running up against the limits of a single chemistry. Horseweed, sourgrass and amaranths shrug off sprays that once wiped them out.
