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Monsanto Invests in Wheat through WestBred Acquisition
Field to Market
Wheat is one of the world’s most vital crops – yet it has suffered from a lack of investment in technology. As a result, the productivity of wheat acres continues to fall behind other major row crops like corn, soybeans and cotton.
Over the last several years, there has been a growing acceptance and discussion around the need for technology investment in wheat in order to meet future demands. In 2009, wheat organizations in the United States, Canada and Australia outlined their support for more efficient, sustainable and profitable production of wheat around the world – including their thoughts on the commercialization of biotechnology in wheat.
Through our acquisition of WestBred, LLC, Monsanto sees an opportunity to bolster the sustainability of wheat by helping farmers improve yields and reduce input resources. We believe the combination of our technologies – like drought tolerance, herbicide and pest resistance, as well as improved-yield traits – and WestBred’s breeding expertise in wheat can meaningfully address some of the productivity challenges facing this crop.
With WestBred seeds and talent added to our company, Monsanto’s development of technologies has the opportunity to enhance not only the productivity, sustainability and quality of wheat, but also the crop’s profitability for our farmer customers.
Researchers will apply Monsanto’s expertise in conventional and marker-assisted breeding to develop better-yielding varieties using WestBred germplasm as a foundation. Biotechnology will be a longer-term prospect, which is consistent with the 8-to-10 year development cycle for new biotech traits for other large-acre crops.
But Monsanto and WestBred are not going to do this alone. We’re also forming a Wheat Development Advisory Group that will consist of individuals throughout the food value chain to assist us as we develop and apply new technologies in wheat.
Rock
Monsanto Invests in Wheat through WestBred Acquisition
Field to Market
Wheat is one of the world’s most vital crops – yet it has suffered from a lack of investment in technology. As a result, the productivity of wheat acres continues to fall behind other major row crops like corn, soybeans and cotton.
Over the last several years, there has been a growing acceptance and discussion around the need for technology investment in wheat in order to meet future demands. In 2009, wheat organizations in the United States, Canada and Australia outlined their support for more efficient, sustainable and profitable production of wheat around the world – including their thoughts on the commercialization of biotechnology in wheat.
Through our acquisition of WestBred, LLC, Monsanto sees an opportunity to bolster the sustainability of wheat by helping farmers improve yields and reduce input resources. We believe the combination of our technologies – like drought tolerance, herbicide and pest resistance, as well as improved-yield traits – and WestBred’s breeding expertise in wheat can meaningfully address some of the productivity challenges facing this crop.
With WestBred seeds and talent added to our company, Monsanto’s development of technologies has the opportunity to enhance not only the productivity, sustainability and quality of wheat, but also the crop’s profitability for our farmer customers.
Researchers will apply Monsanto’s expertise in conventional and marker-assisted breeding to develop better-yielding varieties using WestBred germplasm as a foundation. Biotechnology will be a longer-term prospect, which is consistent with the 8-to-10 year development cycle for new biotech traits for other large-acre crops.
But Monsanto and WestBred are not going to do this alone. We’re also forming a Wheat Development Advisory Group that will consist of individuals throughout the food value chain to assist us as we develop and apply new technologies in wheat.
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