Monsanto's Historic R&D Investment has Contributed to Mid-20s Gross Profit Growth for Its Seeds and Genomi...( Drought-Tolerance Technology Crosses ...)

Drought-Tolerance Technology Crosses Another Key Regulatory Milestone

LONDON, March 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Monsanto's historic investment in research and development in breeding and biotechnology has contributed to a 24 percent compound annual growth rate for the company's Seeds and Genomics segment since 2001. This is one of the key messages Kerry Preete, Monsanto's Vice President of International Commercial, will tell investors today as part of a presentation at the Credit Suisse 14th Annual Global Ag Productivity Conference in London.

"Our R&D investment in technology has allowed us to build a robust pipeline of game-changing products focused on yield and stress," Preete will say. "We continue to be the leading company delivering innovations to farmers that help them maximize their farm's potential. That technology leadership has allowed us to commit to more than doubling our gross profit from 2007 through 2012 as we expand the availability of our technologies to farmers around the world."

The company recently applied to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for approval of its drought-tolerant corn product, following submission to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last December. It also has completed submissions to the relevant Canadian agencies. In its final pipeline phase, this first-ever biotech drought-tolerant corn is part of a family of drought-tolerant products Monsanto plans to bring to the market over the next decade. This marks another key milestone in bringing this product one step closer to farmers and makes it the only dryland, drought-tolerant corn product to have regulatory submissions both to the FDA and the USDA.

Two new technologies emerging from Monsanto's R&D pipeline are Roundup Ready 2 Yield(TM) soybeans and SmartStax(TM) corn. Both products are expected to change
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