• Broadens herbicide tolerance product portfolio for cotton and soybeans
• Acquires licenses to transgenic traits for cotton and certain enabling technologies

Delta and Pine Land Company (NYSE:DLP) (“D&PL” or the “Company”), a leading commercial breeder, producer and marketer of cotton planting seed, today announced that it has acquired several licenses from DuPont (NYSE: DD) subsidiary Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., including its Optimum™ GAT™ herbicide tolerance technology for cotton and soybeans, enabling the Company to enhance its leading product portfolio. Additionally, the Company has acquired licenses for other products developed by the DuPont biotechnology research program and certain enabling technologies for use in cotton, soybeans and other crops.

Optimum™ GAT™ trait developed by DuPont will provide farmers with expanded weed control options and help optimize yield. This herbicide tolerance technology makes plants tolerant to both glyphosate and ALS herbicides, including sulfonylureas. Previously, DuPont announced plans to commercialize Optimum™ GAT™ in Pioneer® brand corn and soybeans and also secured significant global outlicense agreements. D&PL and DuPont, through its subsidiary Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., are partners in a joint venture, DeltaMax Cotton LLC, which was initially formed to develop and commercialize glyphosate tolerance technology in cotton. The Company also announced that it has reached an agreement to license soybean lines suitable for planting in the Southern soybean market through the involvement of GreenLeaf Genetics LLC.

Tom Jagodinski, President and CEO of D&PL said, “We are pleased to build on our strategic plan by gaining access to these new and exciting technologies and expanding our partnership with DuPont. We look forward to bringing our farmer customers increased cotton and soybean technology choices, while adding a second herbicide tolerance gene to the DeltaMax joint venture.”

“We are excited that the world’s largest cotton seed company licenses Optimum™ GAT™ for cotton globally and soybeans in the U.S.,” stated Erik Fyrwald, Group Vice President, DuPont Agriculture and Nutrition. “Today’s announcement validates our trait pipeline and Optimum™ GAT™, extending the acreage served globally.”

D&PL will pay DuPont $20.5 million in connection with this transaction and expects to account for it in the fourth quarter. Technology fee sharing for the Optimum™ GAT™ technology for cotton is essentially consistent with the existing terms in the DeltaMax Collaboration agreement.

D&PL plans to announce its earnings for its third quarter ended May 31, 2006 on July 6, 2006, before the market opens.

Delta and Pine Land Company is a leading commercial breeder, producer and marketer of cotton planting seed. Headquartered in Scott, Mississippi, with multiple offices in eight states and facilities in several foreign countries, D&PL also breeds, produces and markets soybean planting seed in the U.S.

D&PL is a registered trademark of Delta and Pine Land Company.
Optimum™ GAT™ are registered trademarks of Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc.