Achievements
in Plant
Biotechnology
1999

• The global area devoted to all biotechnology crops increased 44 percent, from 68.7 million acres in 1998 to 99 million acres in 1999.
  
  
• According to the International Service for the Acquisition of Agricultural Applications (ISAAA), 72 percent of all biotechnology crops were grown in the United States, followed by Argentina (17 percent), Canada (10 percent) and China (1 percent). The balance was grown in Australia, South Africa, Mexico, Spain, France, Portugal, Romania and Ukraine.
  
  
• Biotechnology crops were grown for the second year in France, Spain and Portugal, and for the first year in Romania and Ukraine.
  
  
• Global sales of biotechnology crops more than doubled in 1999 over 1998, reaching an estimated $2.1 to $2.3 billion worldwide.
  
  
• Farmers who planted biotechnology crops generally enjoyed higher yields, higher profits and lower input costs.

Monsanto 1999 Highlights
Monsanto continued to work toward its vision of "Abundant Food and a Healthy Environment" in 1999 by helping farmers produce more food, more economically, in an environmentally responsible way. According to the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, American farmers enjoyed significant yield and profit increases from enhanced seed, with the added advantage of reduced pesticide applications. Growers in a number of developing countries benefited, as well. Farmers in a single Chinese province who planted Monsanto's Bollgard insect-protected cotton, for example, increased their yields by 25 percent and reduced their insecticide use by 835,000 liters in one season.

Monsanto launched two products in 1999 - Roundup Ready herbicide-tolerant canola into the US market and Roundup Ready herbicide-tolerant soybeans into the Romanian market. In addition, the former Soviet Union countries (CIS) approved Roundup Ready soybeans for import, and Japan approved seven additional varieties of biotechnology crop plants for human consumption, bringing the total to 29 that now can be imported and sold there. And, even though controversy over the importation of enhanced corn continued in Europe last year, US growers reported little difficulty in finding appropriate domestic markets for their harvest.

Monsanto's status as a recognized leader in development of agricultural biotechnology was reaffirmed last year when four key company scientists were awarded the Technology Medal by US President Bill Clinton.

As a leader in the transfer of agricultural biotechnology to developing countries, Monsanto made important research last year, such as the development of beta carotene canola, that will benefit people in areas of the world plagued by sickness resulting from Vitamin A deficiency.

The following pages contain detailed product information about each of our major biotechnology crops and their performance in 1999. This booklet also describes the Monsanto-funded exhibit, "Beautiful Science," at Epcot Center in Florida, which opened last year, and a final section answers some of the most frequently asked questions about our products.