Company researchers expanded overall BMR breeding efforts by starting a new program with the goal of developing unique inbred parent lines and hybrids expressing the BMR trait.
They looked for lines that demonstrated BMR forage quality along with performance stability, excellent yield, and agronomic strengths such as root-lodging resistance and standability for ease of harvest.
The new BMR products all include the Herculex XTRA, LibertyLink and Roundup Ready Corn 2 traits for insect resistance and herbicide tolerance. The three hybrids include:
- Pioneer brand P0238XR: 102-day relative maturity, the earliest-maturing BMR hybrid, with high starch levels, very good fiber digestibility, strong emergence and good roots.
- P0783XR: 107-day BMR silage hybrid with excellent fiber digestibility, tall plants, good roots and a good leaf disease resistance rating.
- P1180XR: 111-day maturity BMR silage hybrid that flowers early for a wide area of adaptation, including northern growing areas. It features excellent stand emergence and establishment, plus good disease tolerance.
These products offer better potential silage yields, higher starch content and excellent fiber digestibility. BMR corn hybrids have 10 percent to 25 percent less lignin in the stalk’s fiber.
This results in improved digestibility, which increases the feed intake of dairy and beef cattle. Higher feed intake is responsible for greater milk production in dairy cattle and faster rate of gain in beef cattle. FG
—From DuPont Pioneer news release
