January 8, 2009

Germany's BASF's Plant Science and US-based Monsanto Co Wednesday (January 7) announced they are a major step closer to delivering the world's first drought-tolerant corn product to farmers.

According to the companies, the product has moved into the final phase prior to an anticipated market launch early next decade. They also reported that Monsanto has submitted the product to the US Food and Drug Administration for regulatory clearance.

"This product is the first result of BASF and Monsanto's plant biotech collaboration," said Hans Kast, President and CEO of BASF Plant Science.

Drought-tolerant corn is just one of the products currently under development as part of BASF and Monsanto's collaboration in plant biotechnology, first announced in March 2007. The two companies are jointly contributing US$1.5 billion or around EUR1.0 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.

"In the almost 25 years I have been with Monsanto, the advancement of our drought-tolerant corn product into Phase 4 is one of our most significant R&D milestones, making this one of the most exciting times ever for our R&D pipeline," said Steve Padgette, Monsanto Biotechnology Lead. Phase 4 is the final phase before market launch. "We are now intensively selecting the best trait-germplasm combinations to deliver excellent drought-stress performance and value to our customers upon launch. This product and other yield improvements that we are developing for farmers will reset the bar for on-farm productivity."