Improving Crop Productivity – Translational Research for Sustainable Agriculture Jacqueline Heard, PhD Monsanto Company EPSO Workshop Sept. 7-8, 2009

Agriculture is at the Center of Many of Society’s Most Important Debates Technology Is Addressing These Challenges Global food security Enhanced productivity Increased yield Sustainable production Water availability Drought-tolerant crops Partnering to share technology with developing world farmers (WEMA) Biofuels Yield technologies to help meet demand for both food and fuel Global warming CO 2 footprint Fertilizer use

Helping Farmers Grow Yields Sustainably 3 Produce More Improved seeds and agronomics for corn, soy, & cotton farmers to double yields from Conserve More Improve Farmers’ Lives Improved seeds and agronomics that reduce aggregate use of key resources by 1/3 per unit of output by 2030 vs Improved seeds and agronomics proven to make farmers of all sizes more productive including >5M additional subsistence farmers by 2020

Biotechnology, Breeding And Changing Agronomic Practices Will Maximize Gains ADVANCES ASSISTING IN PROTECTING AND BOOSTING YIELDS Molecular Breeding Benefit Biotechnology Yield Benefit Grain Yield Potential in 2030 Historical Yield Data 30-Year Trend, Based on Historical Yield Data Sizable Gains Will Be Realized From Marker- Assisted Breeding Average Corn Yield (in bushels per acre) Average U.S. Corn Yield in 2007 was 151 Bushels Per Acre INNOVATIONS IN AG TECHNOLOGY THROUGHOUT THE VALUE CHAIN CONTRIBUTE TO YIELD GAIN

IT REQUIRES THREE PILLARS Doubling Corn, Soy and Cotton Yields is Possible BREEDINGAG PRACTICES BIOTECHNOLOGY Translational Research can efficiently lead us from evidence based plant science to sustainable solutions for modern agriculture

Crop Productivity: solutions need to address primary constraints of a given system Seed and Germplasm Quality Local adaptation Traits Nutrient uptake and use Photosynthetic efficiency Water-use efficiency WeedsBugs Disease Plant Architecture and maturity Heterosis

 The first generation product is targeting 5-10% yield improvement in water-stress environments DiscoveryPhase 1 Proof of Concept Phase 2 Early Development Phase 3 Adv. Development Phase 4 Pre-Launch Launch CONTROL HYBRID (76 BU/AC) WITH GENE (94 BU/AC) SUPERIOR, NE FIELD TRIALS – 2007 Drought-tolerance family aimed at providing consistent yield and buffering against effects of water limitations COLLABORATION WITH Castiglioni et al. 2008

Lead Drought-Tolerant Project Advances to Phase 4 With Fifth Year of Strong Field Results Drought Tolerant Corn Family: Lead Project Target Launch date 2012 DiscoveryPhase 1 Proof of Concept Phase 2 Early Development Phase 3 Adv. Development Phase 4 Pre-Launch Launch Yield Difference (bu/acre) ab b b 13.4% 6.7% 10.6%7.7% Percentage yield difference vs. control Average Yield Improvement of Lead Event Product Concept Target Range 8 TOTAL LOCATIONS 15 TOTAL LOCATIONS 9 TOTAL LOCATIONS 11 TOTAL LOCATIONS 5 th SEASON OF YIELD IMPROVEMENT UNDER DROUGHT STRESS 5 TOTAL LOCATIONS 11.3% a: data from two hybrids b:data from three hybrids c: data from 8 hybrids c

Higher-Yielding Soybeans Continue to Demonstrate Improved Yield over Conventional Controls SOYBEAN YIELD INTRINSIC DEVELOPMENT MOVES TO PHASE 3 TransgenicControl Dayton, IA – 2008  Lead events showing strong yield advantages over controls across three seasons of testing  Higher-yielding trait builds upon established yield platform of Roundup Ready 2 Yield and provides differentiation for modified oil portfolio through stacking Meta Analysis of Three Seasons of Data in 56 Environments Percent yield difference vs. control 7.4% 6.7% Event 2Event 1 DiscoveryPhase 1 Proof of Concept Phase 2 Early Development Phase 3 Adv. Development Phase 4 Pre-Launch Launch PRODUCT CONCEPT TARGET RANGE 2008 Higher-yielding Soybean Agronomic Testing Event 1 Event 2 COLLABORATION WITH

Biotech traits move through four development phases Key activities Trait development Pre-regulatory data Large scale transformation Lab & field testing 1 – 2 years 1 Discovery Phase Phase I Proof of concept Phase II Early product development Phase III Advanced development Phase IV Pre-launch 1 – 2 years 1 1 – 3 years 1 Launch Gene optimization Crop transformation Trait integration/ breeding Field testing Regulatory data generation & submission Regulatory approvals Seed bulk-up Pre-marketing $100M = Approximate cost to develop a biotech trait (Phase 1-4) 1.Time estimates are based on our experience; they can overlap. Total development time for any particular product may be shorter or longer than the estimated time here.

Technologies that will revolutionize Ag productivity HTP Sequencing Genotype-Phenotype Association Computational modeling and Systems Biology Protein Design

GENOMICS ELITE GERMPLASM MARKERS IT PLATFORM ANALYTICS BREEDING BIOTECHNOLOGY COMMERCIAL TRAIT INTEGRATION Germplasm Genes Seed Sold To Farmers Academic R&D: Training needed across several disciplines Investment in human capital is critical

Recent Reports and Useful Resources Emerging Technologies to Benefit Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia National Academy. National Research Council. Workshop Report: Beyond the yield curve: exerting the power of genetics, genomics and synthetic biology. The Science CGIAR Science Council,CGIAR Secretariat, the Alliance of the CGIAR Centres, the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR) and Wageningen University and Research Centre.

14 "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." Albert Einstein Thank you!