Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The Monsanto Company (/ m ɒ n ˈ s æ n t oʊ /) was an American agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation founded in 1901 and headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Monsanto's best-known product is Roundup , a glyphosate -based herbicide , developed in the 1970s.
Monsanto starts its pivot into biotechnology. It genetically engineers a plant cell in 1982, commercializes the first genetically engineered product, recombinant bovine growth hormone (rbGH) - in 1994, and brings its first genetically engineered seeds, Roundup soybeans, onto the market in 1996.
Through a joint venture with Monsanto named Mahyco Monsanto Biotech, Mahyco sublicenses Bt cotton technology in India. [3] The Indian government has maintained price controls on Bt cotton seeds since at least 2011. [4] Mahyco has 21 notified research varieties [5] and production of 115 products across 30 crop species. [6]
The Monsanto brand was discontinued; its products are now marketed under the Bayer name. [147] On 16 September 2019, under the approval of National Company Law Tribunal, Bayer completed the merger of Monsanto India. [148] Bayer's Monsanto acquisition is the biggest acquisition by a German company to date. [149]
In 2002, a joint venture between Monsanto and Mahyco introduced Bt cotton to India. [5] In 2011, India grew the largest GM cotton crop at 10.6 million hectares. The U.S. GM cotton crop was 4.0 million hectares, the second largest area in the world, followed by China with 3.9 million hectares and Pakistan with 2.6 million hectares. [6]
In December 1999, Pharmacia & Upjohn merged with the American biotechnology and medical company, Monsanto and renamed itself Pharmacia. [13] The company retained Monsanto's pharmaceutical division - then known as Searle - and spun off the remaining interests as the "new Monsanto".
Mahyco became India's first commercial entity to be accused of bio-piracy, or misappropriation, of local germplasm. [12] In October 2013, the Indian High Court was pursuing criminal proceedings against senior officials of Mahyco-Monsanto. [13] In June 2019 1,500 farmers gathered in India to protest and illegally plant GMO Brinjal seeds. [14]
Micha Peled's documentary on biotech (Bt) farming in India observes the impact of genetically modified cotton on India's farmers, with a suicide rate of over a quarter million Bt cotton farmers each year due to financial stress resulting from massive crop failure and the price of Monsanto's Bt seeds.