South African grain producers are increasingly relying on seed genetics that have been tested under the same environmental conditions they face in the field, including heat stress, variable rainfall, soil-borne diseases and region-specific pest pressure.
With each growing season bringing new production challenges, farmers must make complex decisions around hybrid selection, planting dates, input use and crop management. Weather variability and rising production costs add further pressure to these decisions.
According to Driaan Bresler, seed product development lead for Corteva Africa and Middle East, locally focused research and field trials play an important role in developing hybrids suited to South Africa’s diverse production environments.
Building Resilience Through Seed Genetics
Bresler says Corteva is focusing on the development of seed technologies designed to improve crop resilience under changing production conditions.
“For more than a century, Corteva has focused on developing solutions that help farmers manage production risks and unlock the potential of every hectare. Through advanced seed genetics, extensive research programmes, and locally adapted solutions, Corteva Agriscience provides technologies designed to perform under diverse and often challenging agricultural conditions,” he says.
The development of a new hybrid can take years, beginning with the identification of desirable characteristics such as yield potential, drought tolerance, disease resistance, grain quality and adaptability.
Promising genetic material is then tested across multiple locations, seasons and production environments. The resulting data is used to identify suitable breeding lines and refine future generations of seed technology.
Testing Under South African Conditions
For South African farmers, testing under local conditions is particularly important because soil types, rainfall patterns, temperatures, pest pressure and diseases can vary considerably between production regions.
Corteva conducts research and breeding trials across the country’s summer grain production areas, including maize, soybean and sunflower regions.
“We test our products in specific areas, soil types, and locations where we know disease pressure is normally high,” Bresler says.
He cites KwaZulu-Natal as an example of an area where products can be tested for disease tolerance, while the North West and Free State provide environments for evaluating performance under heat and drought stress.
Trials are also conducted in higher-potential eastern production areas and under irrigation to assess how hybrids perform under different production systems.
Heat and drought tolerance remain key areas of research, with Corteva also conducting research at its facility near Potchefstroom and maintaining researchers in irrigation-producing areas.
Putting Hybrids Through Rigorous Testing
Corteva’s testing programmes evaluate hybrids across a range of conditions, including:
- Different soil types and production environments;
- Disease and insect pressure;
- Heat, cold nights and frost;
- Different planting dates;
- Plant population and planting density; and
- Different farmer production practices.
Data is collected throughout the various stages of plant development. Researchers assess characteristics such as plant vigour, lodging, insect damage, disease tolerance and yield under different plant densities.
This information helps determine where a particular hybrid is best suited and can support recommendations on hybrid placement and planting dates.
Drones are also used to assist with data collection throughout the growing season, providing additional information on how hybrids respond to specific environmental and production conditions.
From Research Trials to Commercial Fields
Bresler says multi-location testing is important because a hybrid that performs well in one production area may respond differently under another set of environmental conditions.
“Local adaptation has become one of the most important determinants of crop success,” he says. “Through multi-location trials and years of environmental characterisation, the company focuses on developing seed genetics that reflect the realities farmers face, not in theory, but in the field.”
New products are also compared with existing commercial hybrids to assess their performance and potential value to farmers.
According to Bresler, the development process begins with screening available genetic material to identify promising lines and eliminate unsuitable material early in the programme. Further trials are then conducted as the product moves through the development pipeline.
The final stages include strip trials and commercial trials on farms, allowing researchers to evaluate performance under practical farming conditions.
Combining Genetics With Other Technologies
Corteva’s approach also incorporates seed technology alongside crop protection and biological solutions.
Bresler says the integration of these technologies is intended to support plant health, resource efficiency and sustainable productivity.
The development of new agricultural technologies requires long-term research, field evaluation and collaboration between scientists, agronomists and farmers. For seed genetics, extensive testing across different environments provides data that can help determine how hybrids perform under the conditions farmers are likely to encounter.
For South African grain producers, this locally generated information can provide a technical basis for selecting hybrids suited to specific production environments and managing risks associated with variable weather, disease and pest pressure.
