How did Monsanto enter the genetically-modified organisms business?
Monsanto has been the top seed company since 2005. But 10 years ago, it had no seeds; it had just invented transgenics. The first was Roundup Ready soy. Well, it had this invention without knowing what to do with it. First, it thought: “Let´s sell the license to seed companies.” But then it later thought, “No, it’s better to buy those seed companies.” So it sold its pharmaceutical division that was very important and generated a lot of money, to finance this purchasing program. Little by little, in 10 years, it was able to purchase more than 50 seed companies around the world, which has made Monsanto the top seed company in the world, which is incredible because it was a big chemical and pharmaceutical company, but nothing to do with seeds. It´s a very well thought out strategy because every time it buys a seed company, it puts in its patented transgenic seeds, and that means that farmers don´t have any other option. In India, it has purchased cotton seed companies, and farmers don´t h
