Oxitec Ltd. has announced the successful conclusion of the first farm-scale pilot deployments of its Friendly™ fall armyworm on commercial Bt cornfields in Brazil. The Brazilian government's regulatory authorities approved the Friendly™ fall armyworm technology in 2021.

The pilot deployments were conducted on thousands of acres of commercial farmland in São Paulo State, a key corn-growing region in Brazil, during the first annual corn crop season of 2021-2022. Oxitec announced that the deployments have successfully validated the performance of the Friendly™ fall armyworm solution in an open field, farm settings. The Friendly™ fall armyworm can reduce populations of fall armyworm (FAW) and provide long-term protection of the effectiveness of biotech crops against this devastating crop pest.

A peer-reviewed study published in BMC Biotechnology shows that Oxitec's Friendly™ Fall Armyworm technology describes early research conducted in the development of Oxitec's Friendly™ fall armyworm, including the results of in-depth mathematical modeling showing that when male moths are deployed, the development of biotech corn-resistant FAW is significantly delayed, leading to sustained FAW management over a much longer period. For more details, read the press release from Oxitec.