November 13, 2006

Monsanto transfers US$372,000 to Brazil's Embrapa

US multinational Monsanto (MON) on Friday transferred 800,000 Brazilian reals (US$372,000) to Brazil's state-linked agricultural research firm Embrapa for new biotechnology research, under an agreement signed in 2000, said an Embrapa spokeswoman.

"There was a deal signed in 2000 between Monsanto and Embrapa, in which Monsanto agreed to pay 800,000 reals to Embrapa as part of the transfer of royalties on Roundup Ready soy," said the spokeswoman in a phone interview with Dow Jones Newswires.

The money will be placed in a fund for new biotechnology research, though no concrete plans on how the funds will be used have been made, she added.

This is the first time Monsanto has sent money to Embrapa under the agreement.

The funds came from royalties from Brazil's 2005/06 soy harvest and was made via Monsanto's Brazilian subsidiary Monsanto do Brasil.

Monsanto designed its genetically-modified Roundup Ready soy seeds from Embrapa's soy varieties.

Embrapa's total operational budget is around 1 billion reals, but its research budget totals about 35 million reals, according to a report in local Agencia Estado newswire.

Brazil is the world's no. 2 soy producer and exporter, after the US.