Soybean farmers believe that Bayer's incentive program for breeders may have led to reduced competition in the market.
A major national soybean farmers' association APROSOJA has formally requested that Brazil's antitrust regulator, CADE, conclude its long-pending review of a case concerning "breeding incentives" offered by a biotechnology giant Byer to its partners.
APROSOJA Brasil filed a public complaint in mid-August urging CADE's General Superintendent to issue a final opinion on the matter, expressing concern over potential delays that could allow a statute of limitations to expire.
The case centers on allegations that Bayer's incentive program for seed breeders has reduced competition.
Data from the IndexBox platform shows that Brazil's soybean seed market is highly concentrated, with a handful of major players dominating supply. This aligns with the findings of CADE's own Economic Studies Department, which concluded in September 2023 that the incentives led to a decrease in the development of alternative soybean cultivars to Bayer's dominant Roundup Ready technology.
Additional studies by the General Superintendent two months later supported these conclusions.
Roundup Ready is a soybean variety, developed by the American company Monsanto, whose major innovation was resistance to the herbicide glyphosate.
Bayer, which acquired Monsanto in 2018, stated that its contracts containing breeding incentives were previously submitted, scrutinized, and approved by CADE during merger proceedings between 2013 and 2016.
The company defended its program, asserting that its soy biotechnologies have helped boost yields for farmers in Brazil and that growers have a wide variety of seed options from other companies.
Source: Reuters
