January 17, 2007

Monsanto sees high with more seeds

Increased demand for GM soy and corn has fuelled Monsanto's desire for more seed acquisitions and heightened the company's R&D activities.

The company claimed three of their high-impact technology projects, Roundup Ready2Yield soybeans, Vistive III soybeans, and First-generation drought-tolerant corn had been commercialised last year and more could be done so in the next three-four years. This, the company claimed demonstrated an impressive progress in its R&D pipeline.

The company has been exploring possible market opportunity for the soybeans in the US, Brazil and Argentina at a combined total of US$165 million. The new Vistive soybeans, designed to have a similar oil profile to olive oil, could penetrate US$12-15 million of the US edible oil market, while the drought-tolerant corn has a potential market worth of US$116 million in the US, Brazil and Argentina.

The firm has been in the GM seed business longer than its competitors and had thus lapped the competition in the race to bring more premium seeds to the market, said Morningstar analyst Ben Johnson.

The company in the last two years made several acquisitions, prominent among them being Landec's direct marketing and seed sales company, Fielder's Choice Direct which also included in the deal Landec's two corn seed brands. The latter represent more than 1 percent of the US corn seed sales.