April 13, 2006

Agricultural giants join in the race for drought-resistant corn
 

Of about 80 million US acres planted with corn, 15 million acres are vulnerable to drought and more than half are not irrigated.

This sets the scenario for a 3 cornered fight between industry goliaths Monsanto, Dupont Pioneer and BASF to push research on drought-resistant corn, with all three expecting commercial sales in or after 2010.

BASF last year began field tests on drought-resistant corn, and sales in the US may start soon after 2010, pending approval, a spokesman said.

The company plans to spend US$1 billion on research from 2006 to 2008, including $320 million on plant science. The company is also modifying oilseeds such as soybean to increase yields of omega-3 fatty acids. Other plans include the introduction of fungus-resistant crops.

Monsanto, the world's biggest developer of genetically modified corn, will start commercial sales of a drought-tolerant corn between 2010 and 2012, with the potential for the seeds to become "a blockbuster,'', said Chief Executive Officer Hugh Grant. The company has completed 53 large-scale field trials in the past two years and is now identifying the highest-yielding seeds.

Grant said making drought resistance corn has become Monsanto's biggest priority.

Monsanto reported last week that second-quarter profit rose 18 percent as US farmers bought more corn designed to resist pests and herbicides.

Sales increased 15 percent to US$2.2 billion, a record for a second quarter.

DuPont's Pioneer unit is also working on drought-resistant corn that should be commercialised around the turn of the decade, a spokesman said.