August 18, 2011

DuPont partners Mexican lab for corn project

Wilmington's DuPont Co. and a national laboratory in Mexico are collaborating to discover ways to increase corn output for a developing global population and bolster its increasing agricultural earnings.

DuPont's Iowa-based agricultural subsidiary, Pioneer Hi-Bred, announced the collaboration on Monday (Aug 15) with the National Laboratory of Genomics for Biodiversity, a Mexican public institution. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Pioneer sells high-yield, genetically modified corn and soy seeds and will look to use any discoveries in its commercial products. Most of the collaborative research will take place in Langebio's labs in Irapuato, Guanajuato, DuPont said.

Barbara Mazur, vice president of research strategy at DuPont, said that Langebio has knowledge in plant reproduction and development, with a specific focus on corn.

"I think that we always benefit from other people's thinking, their intelligence and the projects they have chosen to work on," Mazur said. "Partnering with the best is a core component of what we do."

DuPont's agriculture business, which also includes crop protection chemicals and other products, generated US$6.5 billion in sales in the first half of 2011, or about a third of the company's total.

Public-private agricultural partnerships are not unusual for DuPont.

Last year, the company partnered with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and public institutions in Africa, including the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, to develop corn seeds that improve nitrogen fertiliser uptake and result in more bountiful harvests without the purchase of additional fertiliser.