GOAL: Create novel, highly aggressive bioherbicide products, through unique molecular genetic approaches, that specifically and effectively suppress Arkansas populations of pigweed.

VALUE TO SOYBEAN INDUSTRY: Herbicideresistant weeds are the most problematic and expensive management issue in row-crop agriculture. Weed problems, particularly pigweed, are more pronounced in Southern states such as Arkansas,
where producers have witnessed more rapid increases in resistant weeds, especially in soybean, cotton, rice, and corn. Attempts to control such “super” weeds lead to as much as an extra $30-50 of input costs per acre. In some cases, extra costs can exceed $150/acre if hand-rouging is required. These costs, coupled with yield losses directly from competition, cause more than $1 billion in losses throughout the Mid- South and South in soybeans, corn and cotton.