Source: Knight-Ridder Tribune
Jerri Stroud, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
via Agnet May 2/05

The cross-pollination of field-crop science with research in vegetables and fruit breeding began last week at Monsanto Co. as 16 scientists from Seminis Inc., based in Oxnard, California, spent three days at their new parent company's headquarters in Creve Coeur and in a genotyping lab in Ankeny, Iowa.

The story explains that Monsanto, a leader in using biotechnology to add traits to crop plants, paid $1.4 billion for Seminis earlier this year in a deal that some analysts found puzzling. Seminis, a global leader in vegetable and fruit seeds, appeared to have little in common with Monsanto.

Marlin Edwards, Monsanto's global lead scientist for breeding technology, was quoted as saying, "This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to put two premier research-and-development organizations together."

The story says that Seminis added 80 plant breeders to the 130 already with Monsanto. Together, the companies have 2,900 research and development employees, including 600 at Seminis.

Edwards was further cited as saying the value and volume of field crops have allowed Monsanto to invest in a "candy land" of tools and techniques that a vegetable breeder like Seminis couldn't afford, adding, "I don't think a whole lot of inducement will be needed" for scientists from the two organizations to begin cooperating in areas of mutual interest.

Charles E. Green, senior vice president of research and development at Seminis, was cited as saying he marveled at the analytical tools that Monsanto uses in molecular and conventional breeding of field crops, such as corn, soybeans and cotton, adding, "When you set out to build a product, you can only make progress on what you can measure or what you can see. This will help with measuring."