Much of the recent focus on genetically modified crops has been on Monsanto's Roundup Ready genes, but a bigger battle may be on the horizon. "After battling for a decade to corner the $11 billion market for insect-resistant and herbicide-tolerant technologies, the world’s biggest seed companies are vying to develop crops that can survive drought," report Jack Kaskey and Antonio Ligi of Bloomberg News. "At stake is a new global market that may top $2.7 billion for the corn version alone." Monsanto says its drought-resistant corn will increase yields by 6 to 10 percent and be available as early as 2012.
Agricultural economists told the reporters that the technology could help farmers use irrigation in rain-short states, and reduce insurance premiums and boost land values in drought-prone regions. The increased corn production could also come at the cost of Midwest wheat and sorghum crops and significantly alter the market for biofuels. "Farmers around the world are going to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to technology providers in order to have this feature," Michael Mack, CEO of Switzerland-based Syngenta, told Bloomberg. Dupont Co. will test its drought-resisted corn with some farmers in dry western Kansas this summer (Read more)
While the seeds likely won't hit the market until 2012, some believe the race is already influencing the current legal battle over genetically modified crops. Some seed industry officials suspect the dueling lawsuits between Pioneer Hi-Bred and Monsanto aren't actually concerned with Roundup Ready seeds, but are "over the rules that would cover licensing – and profits – for drought-tolerant corn," Dan Piller of The Des Moines Register reports on his Green Fields blog. While Monsanto hopes to perfect the trait in the lab, Pioneer is trying to be first on the market by using a "basic germplasm product developed through traditional breeding that wouldn’t require approval of the federal government," Piller reports. (Read more)
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