ST. LOUIS—Monsanto Company and Huazhong Agricultural University have entered into a collaboration to further the development of novel traits such as higher yield, drought resistance and nitrogen use efficiency. Monsanto will evaluate and advance certain technologies developed by Professor Qifa Zhang's research team at Huazhong Agricultural University in China.
"We're excited to be working with a prominent research team in China who has demonstrated great expertise in genomics and biotechnology discovery research," said Steve Padgette, vice president of biotechnology for Monsanto. "This collaboration will benefit both parties. Collaborations such as this allow Monsanto to help agriculture meet the challenges of providing food, fuel and fiber for a growing world population."
"Monsanto's proven ability to commercialize and market new technology could enable our research to advance from laboratory concepts to products in the world market at a much accelerated pace," said Professor Zhang, a leading scientist at Huazhong Agricultural University. "The collaboration will accelerate the step of our commitment to provide benefits to farmers and society as a whole."
China is emerging as an important place for research and development in plant biotechnology, said John McLean, general manager of Monsanto's biotechnology research center in Beijing.