St. Louis, Missouri
March 9, 2009
Company applies for USDA
approval, submissions in key import markets to follow
In keeping with its commitment to deliver innovations for
agriculture, Monsanto Company
announced today that it has completed regulatory submissions in
the U.S. and Canada for the world's first biotech
drought-tolerant corn product developed together with
Germany-based BASF. The
company applied for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
approval of its drought-tolerant corn product following its
submission to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last
December. It also has completed submissions to the relevant
Canadian agencies. Regulatory submissions in key import markets
such as Japan, Mexico, and Korea, will be made in the next
several months.
Drought-tolerant corn is designed to provide farmers yield
stability during periods when water supply is scarce by
mitigating its effects on a corn plant. Field trials for
drought-tolerant corn conducted last year in the Western Great
Plains met or exceeded the 6 percent to 10 percent target yield
enhancement - about 7 to 10 bushels per acre - over the average
yield of 70-130 bushels per acre in some of the key
drought-prone areas in the United States.
"As the need for food, feed, fuel and fiber increases, getting
more from every acre of corn I plant is more important than
ever," said Bob Timmons, a member of the National Corn Growers
Association Biotechnology Working Group and a farmer from
Fredonia, KS. "As a dryland farmer, I look forward to being able
to access corn technology that will provide a yield benefit in
times of drought."
In any given year, 10 million to 13 million acres of farmland
planted to corn in the United States may be affected by at least
moderate drought. The additive gain from drought-tolerant corn
builds upon the yield benefit already realized from the
company's initial ag biotech trait offerings such as insect
protection and herbicide tolerance.
With a growing world population, increasing demand for food,
fuel and fiber, and a changing climate, agriculture faces
unprecedented challenges and the need to get more out of each
acre. Collectively, the yield advantage from drought-tolerance
and earlier products provide farmers with new means to meet the
world's growing food and feed needs.
"This submission is both a major milestone in bringing the
first-ever biotech drought-tolerant corn product to the market
and a reflection of Monsanto's commitment to developing
innovative tools that help protect and grow yield for our
farmer-customers," said Steve Padgette, vice president of
biotechnology for Monsanto. "This product, along with all of the
products in our industry-leading R&D pipeline, demonstrates how
we are helping to provide agricultural solutions that not only
reset the bar for on-farm productivity but also contribute to
the sustainability of our food supply."
Drought-tolerant corn technology is part of Monsanto's R&D and
commercialization collaboration in plant biotechnology with
Germany-based BASF. The two companies are jointly contributing
$1.5 billion over the life of the collaboration, which is aimed
at developing higher-yielding crops and crops more tolerant to
adverse environmental conditions such as drought.
"With this collaboration, BASF and Monsanto have committed
themselves to deliver successive generations of higher yielding
and more drought-tolerant crops," said Hans Kast, President and
CEO of BASF Plant Science. "We have an excellent discovery
platform and a strong pipeline for yield and drought genes,
which makes me confident we will live up to this commitment."
In its fourth-annual Research and Development (R&D) pipeline
update in January, Monsanto announced that drought-tolerant corn
had moved to the fourth - and final - phase before an
anticipated market launch around 2012, pending regulatory
approvals. This first biotech drought-tolerant corn is part of a
family of drought-tolerant products Monsanto plans to bring to
the market over the next several years. The company's
second-generation drought-tolerant corn product, which is
expected to have broad-acre application, is in Phase 2,
consisting of lab and field testing of plant genes.
Drought-tolerant corn technology represents just one of the key
seed-based tools that will support the company in its mission of
producing more from, and conserving more on each acre of
farmland. In June 2008, Monsanto announced an ambitious plan to
double yields in its three core crops - corn, cotton and
soybeans - by 2030 compared to a base year of 2000 - while also
working to conserve more resources such as water, land and
energy, required to produce each unit.
The company's investment in breeding and biotechnology research
is key to meeting these commitments. Monsanto invests more than
$2.6 million per day on leading agricultural research.
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.
BASF is the world's leading chemical company: The Chemical
Company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics and
performance products to agricultural products, fine chemicals as
well as oil and gas. As a reliable partner BASF helps its
customers in virtually all industries to be more successful.
With its high-value products and intelligent solutions, BASF
plays an important role in finding answers to global challenges
such as climate protection, energy efficiency, nutrition and
mobility. BASF has approximately 97,000 employees and posted
sales of more than euro 62 billion in 2008. BASF shares are
traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA)
and Zurich (AN). Further information on BASF is available on the
Internet at www.basf.com. |
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