2010-11-04 11:09

CHANGCHUN -- US-based multinational agricultural  biotechnology company Monsanto said Tuesday it will trial growing a new species of corn in Jilin Province, a major maize growing production area in northeast China.

The new corn species is high-yielding and pest-resistant, said Kevin Eblen, Monsanto's regional leader for North Asia, adding that its comparative advantage is quality rather than cost.

Monsanto has donated 200,000 US dollars to launching the "Monsanto Green Village" in Jilin, the company's second project in China after initiating its first in Hebei Province in 2008.

The program aims to educate farmers about agricultural technology and boost recycling in the countryside.

"Via implementation of the Monsanto green village program, we hope to support more farmers and advance agricultural development in China," said Eblen, who was upbeat that the new corn species would appear on the local market of Jilin within two years.

Monsanto's global sales in 2009 totaled $11.7 billion.