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Positioning Qrome® Technology in Your Future Portfolio
Corn trait technology has advanced significantly over the past few decades, giving growers more options for protecting plants above and below ground. But the most advanced trait package isn’t automatically the right recommendation for every acre.
Some fields may require only above-ground insect protection. Others may face occasional or moderate corn rootworm pressure. And then there’s your continuous corn fields, often plagued with high levels of rootworm. The most useful seed portfolios are flexible enough to account for each of these situations. Finding the right fit depends on insect pressure, field history, genetics, the needs of the grower and the right balance of performance and ROI.
Qrome® corn can be just the right fit for many fields, combining proven above- and below-ground insect protection with access to an incredibly broad range of top-tier genetics.
What is Qrome® trait technology?
Qrome products combine above- and below-ground insect protection in one corn trait stack. The technology includes multiple Bt proteins that target key caterpillar pests and corn rootworm.
Qrome corn doesn’t include an RNAi mode of action for corn rootworm. So, it’s not always going to be your best solution for continuous corn acres with high rootworm pressure. But some corn-on-corn farmers are finding success by putting Qrome products into a rotation with products containing RNAi. Such a rotation can help preserve the long-term efficacy of RNAi. Qrome corn is best suited for low-to-moderate levels of rootworm pressure, where the cost of RNAi technology may not be justified.
Access to top genetics
Adding a trait package to your portfolio doesn’t happen in isolation. You also need access to genetics that work with those traits and fit the needs of your target market.
The hybrids you offer still need the maturity, yield potential, standability, emergence, disease tolerance and regional fit your customers expect. A strong insect trait package cannot make up for genetics that are poorly suited to the acre.
Qrome technology can be incorporated into a broad range of genetics due to advances in molecular stacking, which make the breeding process more efficient. Several trait components are grouped at fewer genetic locations, which can make it easier to move the full package into selected hybrids. This can help breeders reach desired trait and genetic combinations more quickly.
For your business, that can mean more genetic options to further select products containing the agronomic attributes that fit the growers and regions you serve.
Putting Qrome technology in the right fields
Qrome technology is built on established and commercially relevant technology, but it isn’t the newest option in corn rootworm protection. However, for some of your customers, that could be an advantage.
Not every acre needs the highest level of rootworm protection. If a history of crop rotation or other practices have helped keep rootworm pressure in check on certain fields, an RNAi product may not provide enough added value to justify the extra cost. With Qrome products, your customers can get the above- and below-ground protection they need at an ROI-friendly cost per acre.
Understanding field history is key to successful placement of Qrome corn. These products can be a good fit where below-ground protection is needed but rootworm pressure is still manageable.
Product placement should align with the expected rootworm pressure in each field and the grower’s long-term management plan. Qrome corn may fit fields where below-ground root protection is needed but rootworm pressure is still manageable.
Consider field history, including crop rotation, past rootworm pressure, previous trait use, scouting results and known resistance concerns in the area. Fields with heavy or hard-to-manage pressure may need an RNAi-containing product or a different management plan.1
Qrome corn can also serve as one tool in a multiyear rootworm strategy. Growers may rotate out of corn, switch between effective trait packages or use other approved practices to manage the population.2 Using Qrome on suitable fields can help avoid relying on RNAi technology on every acre and over multiple seasons. This helps with trait durability, ensuring the best traits for the job continue working for fields where they are needed most.
A fit for flexible portfolios
Qrome corn isn’t the perfect fit for every field, and that’s exactly the point. By combining above- and below-ground insect protection without an RNAi mode of action, Qrome corn fills the gap between above-ground-only products and newer RNAi technologies. With proper placement, sound stewardship and access to hybrids with the agronomic traits growers expect, Qrome can deliver value to your customers and add more flexibility to your product offerings.
Qrome hybrid production and testing will take place in 2026, followed by a limited commercial release in 2027 and broader availability in 2028. Your Corteva Agriscience Seed Licensing team and genetic supplier contacts can help you evaluate where Qrome corn may fit in your future portfolio.
1 Bradley L. McManus et al., “Evaluation of the impact of an in-furrow granular insecticide on rootworm injury to rootworm traited hybrids near Cavour, SD, 2022,” Arthropod Management Tests, 50, no. 1 (2022), https://academic.oup.com/amt/article/50/1/tsaf060/8114450.
2 Chris DiFonzo, “The Handy Bt Trait Table for U.S. Corn Production,” Michigan State University and Texas A&M University, January 2024, https://www.texasinsects.org/uploads/4/9/3/0/49304017/bttraittable_jan_2024.pdf.
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