Monsanto Announces Nine Project Advancements in Annual Research and Development Pipeline Update
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Company advances two projects to final phase before commercialization, marks progress with yield and stress pipeline
ST. LOUIS, Jan. 6, 2011 - Several projects across platforms and crops designed to improve farmers' on-farm productivity and profitability advanced phases today as part of Monsanto Company's (NYSE: MON) annual pipeline update.
The company highlighted, in particular, key projects in its yield and stress pipeline collaboration with Germany-based BASF Plant Science, which last year was expanded to include wheat. Yield and stress projects advancing phases this year include Nitrogen-Utilization Corn, Second-Generation Higher-Yielding Soybeans and Higher-Yielding/Stress Tolerant Wheat.
Following last year's record-breaking 11 project advancements, this year's nine advances are testament to the depth of the company's research and development (R&D) pipeline. Additionally, four of the advancements are new projects that were added to the pipeline, demonstrating that discovery work brings new opportunities.
"Our competitive R&D advantage comes because we identify needs in the marketplace and turn research into great products for farmers, and that allows us to create value," said Robb Fraley, Monsanto chief technology officer. "We continue to invest in significant crop opportunities with a balanced approach in our breeding and biotech platforms. This approach puts us in the best position to extend our leadership and continue to deliver commercial products that benefit our farmer customers."
Using a combination of the latest breeding and biotechnology tools and techniques and the company's elite global germplasm base, Monsanto researchers are steadfast in their efforts to develop and deliver products that can help farmers produce more on each acre.
The following products advance phases in 2011.
Yield and Stress Projects - in Collaboration with BASF
Monsanto and BASF Plant Science announced key project advancements demonstrating the success of the yield and stress collaboration.
o Nitrogen-Utilization Corn (Advanced to Phase 2) - Nitrogen-Utilization
Corn targets ways corn plants can use nitrogen more efficiently,
exploring the potential to boost yield under normal nitrogen conditions
or to stabilize yield in low nitrogen environments.
o Second-Generation Higher-Yielding Soybeans (Advanced to Phase 2) - When
stacked with the first-generation soybean yield product and the higher
yield opportunity of Genuity® Roundup Ready 2 Yield®, this product is
designed to deliver improved yield compared with first-generation
higher-yielding soybean varieties.
o Higher-Yielding/Stress Tolerant Wheat (in collaboration with BASF) and
Herbicide-Tolerant Wheat (Both advanced to Phase 1) - Wheat has
historically seen a lack of investment in technology compared to other
crops. Since acquiring the WestBred® brand in 2009, Monsanto has been
committed to enhancing the productivity, sustainability and
profitability of wheat by improving yield and grain quality. Wheat yield
and stress technology, which would be stacked with herbicide-tolerance
traits to offer multiple modes of weed control, would offer growers
better yield potential under average stress growing conditions.
The Monsanto and BASF Plant Science collaboration was initiated in 2007 to jointly develop traits to improve farm productivity and profitability in corn, soybeans, cotton and canola. The collaboration was expanded in 2010 to include wheat.
"The advances in development show that we chose the right path in our partnership with Monsanto," said Peter Eckes, President of BASF Plant Science. "BASF is confident that our genes will result in crops that produce significantly better yields and that we will be able to make these available to farmers in the future."
Agronomic Traits Projects
Corn
o Roundup® Hybridization System (Advanced to Phase 4) - The Roundup®
Hybridization System (RHS) is designed to replace detasseling in hybrid
seed corn production, thus reducing seed manufacturing costs.
o Roundup® Hybridization System II (Advanced to Phase 1) - The
second-generation Roundup® Hybridization System II (RHS II) is designed
to replace detasseling in hybrid seed corn production and increase seed
yield in production, further reducing the cost of goods.
Soybeans
o Dicamba-Tolerant Soybeans (Advanced to Phase 4) - The addition of
dicamba-tolerance to the Genuity® Roundup Ready 2 Yield® soybean
platform would enable the use of dicamba and glyphosate for pre-plant
burndown and in-season weed control, resulting in an effective and high
yielding weed management system.
o Second-Generation Insect Protected Soybeans (Advanced to Phase 2) - This
pipeline product is the second generation of insect-protected soybeans
using Bt technology widely adopted in corn and cotton to control
economically significant insect pests in Brazil. This product would
broaden the spectrum of insect control and durability of the trait
compared to the first-generation product.
Canola
o Dicamba-Tolerant Canola (Advanced to Phase 1) - Dicamba-tolerance, when
stacked with Roundup Ready® technology, is designed to add an
additional herbicide mode of action, which would enhance the flexibility
for weed control options available for canola growers.
About Monsanto Company
Monsanto Company is a leading global provider of technology-based solutions and agricultural products that improve farm productivity and food quality. Monsanto remains focused on enabling both small-holder and large-scale farmers to produce more from their land while conserving more of our world's natural resources such as water and energy. To learn more about our business and our commitments, please visit: www.monsanto.com. Follow our business on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MonsantoCo, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MonsantoCo, or subscribe to our News Release RSS Feed.
About BASF Plant Science
BASF is the world's leading chemical company: Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics and performance products to agricultural products, fine chemicals as well as oil and gas. BASF Plant Science - a BASF group company - is one of the world's leading companies providing innovative plant biotechnology solutions for agriculture. Today, about 700 employees are helping farmers meet the growing demand for improved agricultural productivity and healthier nutrition for humans and animals. Jointly with leading partners in the seed industry BASF Plant Science is commercializing its products. Current projects include higher yielding row crops, nutritionally-enhanced corn for animal feed or higher content of Omega-3's in oil crops for preventing cardiovascular diseases. To find out more about BASF Plant Science, please visit http://www.basf.com/plantscience.
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Sara Miller,
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SOURCE Monsanto Company
Web Site: www.monsanto.com
