Weed resistance is a mounting global challenge. Farmers in the US and Brazil are facing species resistant to multiple herbicide classes, driving up costs and threatening crop yields. Traditional herbicide discovery is slow — often 12 to 15 years from concept to market — and expensive, with high attrition during early screening.
Bayer’s Crop Science division has turned to AI to help shorten these timelines. Independent reporting notes Bayer’s pipeline includes Icafolin, its first new herbicide mode of action in decades, expected to launch in Brazil in 2028, with AI used upstream to accelerate the discovery of new modes of action.
Reuters reports that Bayer’s approach uses AI to match weed protein structures with candidate molecules, compressing the early discovery funnel by triaging millions of possibilities against pre-determined criteria. Bayer’s CropKey overview describes a profile-driven approach, where candidate molecules are designed to meet safety, efficacy, and environmental requirements from the start.
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