The University of Delaware and DuPont Co. have signed a commercial deal for a disease-resistant corn jointly developed by the two institutions.
DuPont’s Pioneer Hi-Bred seed business is now marketing the hybrid corn, which has a gene that helps it resist a disease called anthracnose stalk rot. The disease, which reduces crop yields by rotting the stalks of corn plants, is blamed for an estimated $1 billion in annual losses in North America.