Plans to plant a record soybean crop in Brazil could leave the No. 2 producer with a seed and pesticide shortage, the local head of Syngenta said on Thursday.

Brazil's area of soybeans to be planted in 2012/2013 will likely surpass the 24.8 million hectares (61.3 million acres) last year by 2 million hectares, or 8 percent, as farmers eye record-high soybean future prices, Laercio Giampani of Switzerland-based Syngenta said.

Approximately two out of every three acres is planted with a Bt corn variety in the United States.  That is part of the overwhelming adoption of genetically enhanced seed, which also includes herbicide and drought tolerance.  While all of them are designed to reduce various risks, farmers have an ulterior motive for their substantial endorsement of Bt corn.