St. Louis, Missouri and Brookings,
South Dakota
March 19, 2009
South Dakota State University and
Monsanto Company have
entered into an agreement to create a new Ph.D. research
fellowship program in plant breeding. Monsanto has committed $1
million over five years for the program. The announcement was
made today at the Innovation Campus in Brookings, the only
university-affiliated research park in South Dakota.
Monsanto has a well-established record of collaborating with
research and breeding departments at academic institutions such
as SDSU to make new discoveries that will lead to a sustainable
agricultural environment for the future, said Robert Fraley,
chief technology officer for Monsanto.
"We have been working on developing a program with SDSU for more
than a year. We are thrilled to be partnering with the
university and helping create and support a robust plant
breeding program," Fraley said. "Breeding is one of the key
pillars of the research done at Monsanto, and we want to provide
the plant breeders and researchers of tomorrow with the best
training and widest variety of opportunities."
In 2008, Monsanto announced an ambitious goal to double yields
in its core crops of corn, cotton and soybeans by 2030 from a
base year of 2000, while reducing by one-third key inputs such
as water and energy per unit produced. Maintaining a strong
research and development pipeline - supported by a pool of
highly-trained researchers and breeders - will be key to meeting
that goal, Fraley said.
"We are very proud that Monsanto and farmers hold SDSU's plant
breeding program in such high regard. The Monsanto Plant
Breeding Fellowships will further advance SDSU's research by
providing training in the most modern plant improvement
techniques," said Kevin Kephart, vice president of research at
SDSU.
The fellowships will enhance SDSU's plant breeding program by
helping recruit and train outstanding students from around the
globe and that, in turn, helps agriculture in South Dakota, said
Sue Blodgett, head of the plant science department at SDSU.
SDSU already has strong applied plant breeding and cultivar
development programs. With this program, the university will be
able to expand opportunities available to students seeking a
science career in agriculture, Blodgett said. It helps increase
the available number of applied plant breeders from which the
agriculture industry can recruit future employees.
"Our program, along with Monsanto's support and expertise, will
give more students the much-needed balance of lab- and
field-based research experience that meets the industry's
needs," Blodgett said.
The joint program in plant breeding will be ready to accept its
first students in fall 2009, Kephart said.
"Agriculture is South Dakota's number one industry," said South
Dakota Secretary of Agriculture Bill Even. "New technological
advancements are vital in order to meet the challenge of
producing the world's food, fiber, feed, and fuel in the
twenty-first century. This partnership is an important step
toward achieving these goals. When industry and higher education
work together on projects like these, good things can happen
quickly."
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.
About South Dakota State University
Founded in 1881, South Dakota State University is the state's
Morrill Act land-grant institution and its largest, most
comprehensive school of higher education. SDSU confers degrees
from eight different colleges representing more than 200 majors,
minors and options. The institution also offers 23 master's
degree programs and 12 Ph.D. programs. The work of the
university is carried out on a residential campus in Brookings
and at sites in Sioux Falls, Pierre and Rapid City.
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