November 4, 2010

Monsanto to grow new corn species in China

US-based Monsanto will be growing a new species of trial corn in Jilin Province, a major corn-growing production area in northeast China, the company said on Tuesday (Nov 2).

The new corn species is high-yielding and pest-resistant, said Kevin Eblen, Monsanto's regional leader for North Asia.

Monsanto has donated US$200,000 to launching the "Monsanto Green Village" in Jilin, the company's second project in China after initiating its first in Hebei Province in 2008.

The program aims to educate farmers about agricultural technology, and to boost recycling in the countryside.

"Via implementation of the Monsanto green village program, we hope to support more farmers and advance agricultural development in China," Eblen said, who was confident that the new corn species would appear on the local market of Jilin within two years.

Monsanto's global sales in 2009 totaled US$11.7 billion.