Atlanta, Georgia
January 17, 2002

DP 448 B slated to replace NuCOTN 33 B

Delta and Pine Land Company (D&PL) announced DP 448 B as its newest Bollgard® picker cotton variety at the New Developments in Industry Session of the 2002 Beltwide Cotton Conferences in
Atlanta. Seed supply is expected to be very good for the 2002 growing season.

"We have continued making advances in the genetics carrying transgenic traits since we introduced Bollgard to the U.S. market in 1996," said Dr. David Albers, D&PL's technical services regional director for the western U. S. "DP 448 B has similar genetic background, adaptation and management as NuCOTN 33 B and is slated to be its replacement. While the variety may seem familiar, it brings an approximately five percent yield increase over NuCOTN 33 B, based on a summary of 193 head-to-head comparisons across the Belt."

DP 448 B is a widely adapted, medium-maturing, Bollgard picker variety that has demonstrated improved yields over NuCOTN 33 B in a wide range of environments, and will provide growers with a new choice in this class. Its characteristics make it well adapted to full-season areas of the Cotton Belt, especially the western U.S. particularly in Arizona, the Imperial Valley of California and Texas. It has a slightly earlier maturity than NuCOTN 33 B with very good resistance to Fusarium and Verticillium, plus very good storm resistance. Bronze Wilt has not been observed in this variety.

For more information, see 2002 Final Beltwide Presentations on the Delta and Pine Land Company's website.

Delta and Pine Land Company is a commercial breeder, producer and marketer of cotton planting seed, as well as soybean seed in the Cotton Belt. For more than 80 years, the Mississippi-based company has used its extensive plant breeding programs drawing from a diverse germplasm base to develop superior varieties. Delta and Pine Land (NYSE: DLP) has offices in eight states and facilities in several foreign countries.