--- title: 'Agriculture Daily Summary: What Happened on October 12, 2026' headline: HelEx breeds sunflowers for heat, drought and pollinators description: The EU-funded project is testing new sunflower varieties, while Corteva added Arevo’s Arginex Soy to its European soybean seed-treatment portfolio in July. url: https://thebench.bio/news/agriculture/2026-10-12 topic: agriculture date: '2026-10-12' covers: - '2026-10-12' date_published: '2026-10-12T12:03:10Z' date_modified: '2026-10-12T12:03:10Z' tags: - Agriculture sources: 2 publisher: TheBench.Bio --- # Agriculture Daily Summary: What Happened on October 12, 2026 **HelEx breeds sunflowers for heat, drought and pollinators** The EU-funded project is testing new sunflower varieties, while Corteva added Arevo’s Arginex Soy to its European soybean seed-treatment portfolio in July. ## Today in brief HelEx is testing sunflower breeding approaches for heat and drought tolerance in field trials across five countries. [1] Corteva added Arevo’s Arginex Soy to its European soybean seed-treatment portfolio in July 2026. [2] ## HelEx breeds sunflowers for heat and drought The EU-funded HelEx project combines conventional breeding and gene editing to develop sunflowers that can withstand hotter, drier conditions. [1] Researchers screened wild sunflowers from arid parts of the United States, then crossed the most drought-tolerant plants with commercial European varieties. [1] Field trials in five countries will test whether those approaches produce more resilient crops. [1] The project’s 17 partners also identified genes linked to ultraviolet flower color and nectar sugar levels, both of which affect pollinator attraction. [1] HelEx has developed a sunflower variety intended to provide more resources for pollinators. Project researcher Nicolas Langlade said it produces six times more nectar and pollen than conventional varieties. [1] Langlade expects a project-developed variety now undergoing registration to be available in 2028. [1] The project is also identifying genes linked to seed protein content, with the aim of broadening sunflower’s uses in food. [1] Langlade warned that yields could fall enough to make sunflower cultivation unviable in parts of Greece and Bulgaria without action. [1] ## Corteva adds Arevo seed treatment to European portfolio Corteva added Arginex Soy to its European soybean seed-treatment portfolio in July 2026, Arevo CEO Niklas Åström said. [2] Åström described Arginex as a defined molecule, not a living product. It can be applied with existing seed treatments and requires no additional field pass. [2] Åström said corn trials from 2024 to 2025 matched yields from a full-rate nitrogen check while using 30% less standard nitrogen. [2] In one European trial in 2025, treated corn yields were 4.3% higher than the check, he said. [2] With a full fertilizer program, Arginex increased corn yields by an average of 3.4%, Åström said. [2] At three South American sites, corn yields matched the full program with 40% less nitrogen and phosphorus, he said. [2] Arevo plans to present its full corn, wheat and soybean trial results at the Euroseeds Congress in October, Åström said. [2] ## The day in numbers - **5 countries**: HelEx field trials will test sunflower breeding approaches for resilience. [1] - **6 times**: Nectar and pollen output reported for HelEx’s pollinator-focused variety compared with conventional varieties. [1] - **30% less nitrogen**: Reduction in corn trials where Arginex reportedly matched yields from a full-rate nitrogen check. [2] ## Sources 1. [The Traits Sunflower Breeders Need May Already Be Growing in the Desert](), European Seed, 2026-10-12 2. [Arevo: Can a Thin Red Coat Change How a Crop Uses Nitrogen](), European Seed, 2026-10-12 --- TheBench.Bio wrote this from the reporting cited above, with a language model drafting and editing. [1]: [2]: