Monsanto, a US-based life sciences company, is a leading provider of agricultural products and integrated solutions for farmers. The company was established in 1901 as a chemical company. Monsanto makes Roundup, the world's best-selling herbicide, and other crop protection products. We produce leading seed brands, including DEKALB and Asgrow, and we provide our seed partners with biotechnology traits for insect protection and herbicide tolerance. With our unique combination of products and our unparalleled resources in plant biotechnology, we create integrated solutions that bring products and technologies together to improve productivity and to reduce the costs of farming. The Monsanto seed business has research and seed conditioning sites in dozens of countries worldwide. Maize breeding research of Monsanto (ex-Cargill International Seeds and ex-Dekalb Seeds) in Asia & Pacific Region has been carried out in Thailand and Philippines since 1979, India since 1996 and China since 2000. Monsanto also has testing sites in Pakistan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan and Korea. Monsanto's breeding efforts are geared towards increasing yield and income of farmers by providing them with superior maize hybrids and their appropriate technologies. Our breeding aim is to develop better maize hybrids that are suitable to environmental conditions and farmer practices in Asia & Pacific countries. The company uses genomics-based capabilities both to breed for better maize hybrids and to identify biological traits. Its strong germplasm base allows it to commercialize high-quality seeds and to launch new traits products. The existing inbreds have been developed by introgression the elite germplasm from around the world into the locally adapted germplasm. The resulting hybrids have been tested over years and in wide array of environments under farmer's fields before being released to the farmers. In addition to high yield, our goals are also emphasized on developing new corn hybrids that have better traits and quality i.e. tolerance to stress environments, tolerance to Roundup herbicide and Asian corn boror and higher quality corn. As a global company, Monsanto also believes that private-public partnership is essential in accelerating maize production throughout the world. We fully support the introduction and adoption of leading edge technologies that will enable Asia & Pacific farmers more competitive advantage in the world market.

English

0501|AGRIS 0501|AL-Maize Program

Juan Carlos Mendieta

CIMMYT Publications Collection