The Hindu Business Line : Monsanto eyeing prospects from GM corn in India

“We are looking into the future where not only would your farms get bigger, but there will also be less and less labour available for agricultural operations..

Harish Damodaran

Des Moines (Iowa), Sept 5

After Bt cotton, Monsanto is expanding its focus on corn (maize) in India.

The St. Louis-headquartered agri-biotech major already has a 39 per cent share in the country’s hybrid corn seeds market, currently estimated at around Rs 600 crore and growing on the back of increased demand for maize from the domestic poultry feed and starch industries as well as exports.

Monsanto is seeking next to build on its market leader position in corn hybrid seeds to introduce genetically modified (GM) versions on the lines of cotton.

Hybrid corn

“We have established a good corn business in India and our interest is to bring biotech traits into it”, Dr Robert T. Fraley, Executive Vice-President and Chief Technology Officer of the $ 8.56 billion company, told Business Line during a trip organised by the compnay.

Of the 7.8 million hectares (19.3 million acres) maize area in India, roughly 40 per cent or 7.7 million acres is under hybrids and the remaining 60 per cent under conventional open-pollinated varieties. At an average requirement of 7-8 kg per acre, the total hybrid corn seed market works out to roughly 60,000 tonnes, which are being sold to farmers at between Rs 50 and Rs 200 a kg.

The bulk of the 60,000-tonne market is accounted for by Monsanto, Pioneer Hi-Bred International (a DuPont subsidiary) and Syngenta India, with domestic players such as Shriram Bioseed Genetics, Kaveri Seed Company and Kanchan Ganga Seed Company also having a presence in the segment.

Research trials

Monsanto, which sells corn seeds under the brand names of ‘Dekalb’ and ‘Asgrow’, has sought regulatory approval for conducting limited multi-location research trials of its GM maize event, containing a three-gene stacked combination.

While two of the genes code for proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt, a common soil bacterium) that act against the corn borer and rootworm insect pests, the third gene confers resistance to application of Monsanto’s glyphosate-based ‘Roundup Ready’ herbicide.

When asked whether technologies such as glyphosate-tolerant corn were appropriate for India, where holdings are small and farmers do weeding manually, Dr Fraley said: “We are looking into the future where not only would your farms get bigger, but there will also be less and less labour available for agricultural operations”.

As it is, finding labour for transplanting paddy or picking cotton is becoming increasingly difficult and expensive in many States. So, it is only a matter of time before farmers make a decisive switchover to herbicides as well, he pointed out.

Herbicide formulations

Monsanto is now selling its ‘Roundup’ herbicide formulations in India mainly for pre-emergent use, i.e. prior to the plant’s vegetative growth stage. While spraying glyphosate on ordinary corn destroys the crop along with the weeds (as the chemical cannot distinguish between the two), the corn which is genetically engineered to resist ‘Roundup’ confines the potency to just the weeds, making it amenable to post-emergent applications as well.

For Bt cotton, Monsanto has predominantly employed the licensing route for marketing the technology.

Licensing routes

During the current season, sale of seeds incorporating the company’s proprietary ‘Bollgard’ Bt gene constructs is reckoned to have crossed 200 lakh packets of 450 gm each.

Out of this, only 13-15 lakh packets were sold under the ‘Paras’ and ‘Mahalaxmi’ brands belonging to Emergent Genetics India Ltd — a firm acquired by Monsanto in mid-2005. The rest were marketed by independent seed companies (Nuziveedu Seeds, Rasi Seeds, etc), with whom Monsanto has signed exclusive technology licensing agreements.

But in the case of GM maize, the licensing route may not be necessary, given Monsanto’s already entrenched position in the domestic corn hybrid seed segment. “We are open to both the options (licensing and direct marketing)”, Dr Fraley added.

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