Achievements
in Plant
Biotechnology
1999

Roundup Ready herbicide-tolerant corn can withstand labeled over-the-top applications of Roundup herbicide and provides growers with the same weed control and crop safety benefits as Roundup Ready cotton and Roundup Ready soybeans. Farmer appreciation of the product, which was launched in 1998, was evidenced by the fact that it was grown on 2.3 million acres in 1999, up from one million acres in its first year.

Because Roundup Ready corn is not yet approved for import in Europe, there was some concern among last year's growers about their ability to sell their harvest. But thanks to widespread acceptance of the product at U.S. elevators and a channeling plan implemented by Monsanto and its partners in the US seed industry, US farmers were able to sell their corn in the domestic market.

Grower Satisfaction
The vast majority of surveyed growers reported that they were very satisfied or somewhat satisfied with Roundup Ready corn in 1999 (92 percent compared to 91 percent in 1998). Thirty percent of last year's growers perceived the value of Roundup Ready corn to be much higher than non-Roundup Ready corn - a 15 percent increase over 1998, while 54 percent reported it was a somewhat better value. The majority of growers surveyed said Roundup Ready corn met or exceeded their expectations.

An Environmental Advantage
Conservation tillage (CT) is a proven agricultural technology that helps to reduce soil erosion while it helps conserve soil moisture and nutrient content. CT is, however, more effective at increasing crop yields when weeds growing in the crop are adequately controlled. Encouraging growers to adopt this environmentally important technology depends on their ability to efficiently and economically control weeds.

On-going Monsanto field trials demonstrate that using Roundup Ready corn and Roundup herbicide in no-till systems can help provide growers with better weed control and crop safety than systems using competitive herbicides. Therefore, the availability of the Roundup Ready corn system in the United States is expected to increase the number of no-till acres - a step forward in agricultural sustainability.

Registration and Acceptance
In 1999, more than 12,000 hectares (30,000 acres) of Roundup Ready corn were planted in Bulgaria and 8,097 hectares (20,000 acres) were planted in Canada - both for the first time. Roundup Ready corn has been approved for sale in the United States, Canada, and Japan. Regulatory approval is pending in Argentina, as well as in Europe.

For more information on Roundup Ready Corn visit the BiotechBasics link.

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