Read at : Google Alert – drought
http://www.gothenburgtimes.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2009/03/21/49c399fb0d3d8
Drought-tolerant corn progresses through pipeline
Monsanto officials discuss corn and development of other biotechnology products
By Elizabeth Barrett
March 21, 2009
Monsanto Company’s development of drought-tolerant corn is in its fourth and final stage.
Stage four is the beginning of the regulatory process of the product.
In addition to going through regulatory agencies in the United States and Canada, Monsanto officials recently announced plans to take the product through the same process in Japan, Mexico and Korea.
If approved by the Federal Drug Administration—which is expected—Monsanto officials predict drought-tolerant corn to be in the marketplace by 2012.
Multiple corn technologies and other seed development such as soybeans and water management will be showcased at the new Monsanto Water Utilization Learning Center set to open in June south of Gothenburg.
Chandler Mazour, center manager, said the learning center will also display other enabling technologies that take a holistic approach to crop production in the high plains to help farmers grow more with less—especially water.
“We are approaching the challenge of water utilization on three fronts,” Mazour said
The first part of the solution, he said, is using Monsanto’s biotech traits already on the market which help corn hybrids in times of water stress.
Secondly is the company’s development of future biotech traits such as drought-tolerant corn.
More specifically, Mazour said biotechnology or genetically modified corn means DNA traits such as drought tolerance are placed—instead of bred—into the grain.
“Ours is the first biotech solution to water management in the world,” Mazour noted.
Finally, he said the biotech solutions will be combined with corn hybrids developed through traditional plant breeding.
Mazour said these hybrids have native genes selected through the years to help them perform better in times of drought.
“We know that our world-class genetics combined with our current biotech traits and then with our drought gene is a fantastic tool for farmers to increase yields using less water,” he noted.
Producers will pay for the technology when they buy seed but Mazour said Monsanto knows the new products add value for customers.
“To share in the value, producers reap the rewards and we feel we should share in that value too,” he said, noting that Monsanto spends more than $2 million a day in research and development of agricultural products.
When the drought-tolerant seed is approved, Mazour said it will be available to producers in the fall so they’ll be ready to plant the product the following spring.
Monsanto has collaborated with German-company BASF in developing the first biotech product and future products.
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