September 6, 2007

Monsanto to pour US$28 million for new Brazilian GM soy

US biotech giant Monsanto said on Wednesday (September 5) it would invest US$28 million in a five-year research in Brazil to develop a new genetically modified soy variety, combining resistance to insects with herbicide tolerance.

The new trait is expected to be resistant to Velvetbean Caterpillar, the major pest of soybeans in Brazil and Argentina, according to Monsanto. Velvetbean Caterpillar pest control measures cost US$300 million annually in Brazil, the company said.

As for herbicides, the beans would have a second-generation "Roundup ready" tolerance to gliphosphate-based toxins, Monsanto said. Beans with first-generation tolerance are already widely used in Brazil.

The company will also invest in three new research centres in the central state of Tocantins as well as in the southern states of Parana and Rio Grande do Sul.

The company decided to boost investment in Brazil due to "advances in the regulatory process regarding intellectual property rights in the country," Monsanto do Brasil President Alfonso Alba said in the statement.

The anti-caterpillar technology is the first being developed for markets outside the US.