Memphis, Tennessee
December 29, 2000

Delta and Pine Land Company (NYSE: DLP) ("D&PL") announced a synopsis of the strategic outlook comments made today by Chief Executive Officer Murray Robinson at the Company's Annual Meeting of Shareholders. In his comments, Robinson provided a strategic review in which he emphasized the Company's long-term objective to maximize shareholder value by taking advantage of D&PL's own technology in addition to creating relationships with other companies to collaborate on technology development, marketing and distribution. 

"Our primary objective remains the same -- maximizing shareholder value," Robinson said. "We continue to actively pursue ways to best accomplish that goal. The Company continues to explore various approaches to further develop D&PL's own technology and to minimize timelines for adaptation of those technologies to a broad range of agricultural crops. Several companies possessing other new technologies have expressed interest in our product development, marketing and distribution skills and are interested in using our germplasm as a distribution vehicle for their technologies. Based on these discussions, one or more of a variety of business collaborations may be possible." 

Robinson concluded his strategic review by focusing on the role of biotechnology in the Company's current and future business. "We have shown that biotechnology can make great contributions to our customers, and that it will be a fundamental part of agriculture for the coming decades. Delta and Pine Land is committed to moving that technology forward in our business and playing a significant role in the industry." 

Delta and Pine Land Company is a 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, DLP also breeds, produces and markets soybean planting seed in the U.S. where it sells cotton seed. For more information, please refer to the Company's Web site at http://www.deltaandpine.com.  

Company news release
N3221