Poncho Votivo 2.0 Soft Launch in 2018
Bayer is introducing Poncho Votivo 2.0 to select customers in 2018 through a partnership with Beck’s Hybrids. The company has supplies for up to one million acres for this introductory launch, with the full commercial launch expected in 2019.
“It’s the Poncho Votivo product everyone trusts and the 2.0 adds a second complementary bacterium to the product,” says Jennifer Riggs, Bayer seedgrowth product development manager. “We’re able to provide two different bacteria: Votivo protects and the 2.0 impacts the soil environment, so they don’t compete for food.”
The new seed treatment uses Flexiboost technology by Bayer. Bacteria deliver proteins and enzymes (specifically endoglucanase) to the soil which breaks residue into sugar. The more active the microbials are the more effectively they use organic matter and put nutrients back into the root environment.
“It lasts throughout the critical growing period, 60 to 90 days,” Riggs says. “We can produce more corn on the same footprint without adding more fertilizer.”
Poncho Votivo 2.0 is only a corn seed treatment and will not be available for downstream treaters. In addition to the soft launch with Beck’s, Bayer is running a demo program with retailers and farmers.
