Thread: Dow, Monsanto sign corn seed licensing pact

Better find a way to eat things that corn isn't a part of - the price will be outrageous after this merging of chemical giants.... in CORN SEED. This "genetically modified seed technology" isn't about protecting from pests - it is about controlling the seed and to force users to BUY more seed as it will not be possible to collect and save seed from produce as we have for centuries. This will hand control over what - where - who and when - to those who run the plantation.


http://www.reuters.com/article/business ... 23&sp=true

Dow, Monsanto sign corn seed licensing pact
Fri Sep 14, 2007 9:31am EDT


By Euan Rocha

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Dow Chemical Co (DOW.N: Quote, Profile, Research), the largest U.S. chemical maker, and U.S. biotech giant Monsanto Co (MON.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Friday they plan to jointly create the next generation of genetically modified corn seeds.

The licensing agreement between the two companies will pose an additional hurdle to U.S. chemical maker DuPont Co (DD.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Swiss agrochemicals group Syngenta (SYNN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research), which have been trying to catch-up with Monsanto, the market leader in genetically modified seed technology.

The next generation seed offering, slated to be introduced around 2010, will combine eight different herbicide tolerance and insect-protection genes, the companies said in a joint statement.

Dow and Monsanto's plans are particularly significant since the most advanced genetically modified seeds currently available are triple-stacks. The new seeds, called SmartStax, will be the first to contain eight different traits.

"We've been doing a what I call a disciplined technology play and this agreement with Monsanto is a game changer in the space," said Dow's Chief Executive Andrew Liveris, in an interview with Reuters.

The Dow AgroSciences unit has been slowly boosting its business over the last six months through a series of small acquisitions and research collaborations.

The multi-gene product will protect the corn crop against above- and below-ground insects. The product also guards the crop from being damaged by certain weed control chemicals.

Dow and Monsanto also reached a 10-year agreement to exchange lines of corn in the United States, which allows the companies to create more hybrids.

This agreement is particularly beneficial to Dow, which is a relatively small player in the corn seed market and could stand to gain market share from the agreement.

"As we do have small market share, this is aiming at boosting essentially our part of the hybrid market share," said Dow AgroSciences head Jerome Peribere, in an interview with Reuters.

In June, Monsanto posted a 71 percent increase in quarterly profits, largely due to record U.S. corn plantings.

The rising demand for ethanol in the U.S. has pushed corn prices higher and U.S. farmers planted 92.9 million acres of corn this spring, the largest sowing in 63 years.

(Reporting by Euan Rocha)

we are messing with nature.... it has taken millions of years to get to this point and DOW and Monsanto are playing with the devil... if we have a catistrophic event on this planet and have to start from scratch again .... will native seeds be around to do this... or will these companies control the world through genetic mutation