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As head of the world's largest seed company, Monsanto Chairman Hugh Grant is on a global quest for growth. And with the U.S.-based company's footprint firmly planted in the United States, that pursuit has turned south. South America, particularly Brazil, is a top growth target now, Grant said in an interview with Reuters this week. Friendly regulators, an influx of public and private investment into Brazilian agriculture and a population of farmers eager to help feed a hungry world are among the factor spurring the agricultural conglomerate to intensify its efforts there, Grant said.

Monsanto Co. is preparing to launch a genetically altered sweet corn, marking the global seed company's first commercial combination of its biotechnology with a consumer-oriented vegetable product. The sweet corn seed, which will be available to farmers this fall, has been genetically altered to tolerate treatment of Monsanto's Roundup herbicide, and to fight off insects that might attack the plants, said Consuelo Madere, Monsanto vice president of the company's global vegetable business.

Global agribusiness company Monsanto Co (MON.N) posted a nearly 80 percent jump in net income on Wednesday due to strong sales in its core seeds and genetic traits businesses. Shares rose nearly 5 percent as the market applauded the company's sales strength in the United States and Latin America and an expanded earnings outlook for the full year. Total sales of Monsanto's specialized corn, soybean, cotton and other seeds and traits rose 12 percent to $2.6 billion in the quarter.

High-tech seeds and innovations in chemicals and farming will not be enough to solve looming food shortages for the world, according to a report issued Tuesday by a committee formed by food and chemicals conglomerate DuPont. Billions of dollars in private investment, government incentives and charitable work must be funneled into collaborative projects if global food production is to match growing demand, the report urged.

Rising prices for farmland in the U.S. Midwest and fears that values may be creating an artificial bubble are driving some investors to the sidelines, though strong farm balance sheets are sustaining interest in many sectors, investment experts said on Monday. Surging prices for key row crops, such as corn, soybeans and wheat, are helping support rising values that jumped more than 10 percent in the U.S. Midwest last year and have continued to climb. But if crop prices should plummet, land values could fall rapidly.

Critics say it's a chemical that could cause infertility or cancer, while others see it speeding the growth of super weeds and causing worrying changes to plants and soil. Backers say it is safe and has made a big contribution to food production. It's glyphosate, the key - but controversial - ingredient in Roundup herbicide and the top selling weed killer used worldwide. For more than 30 years, glyphosate has been embraced for its ability to make farming easier by wiping out weeds in corn, soybean and cotton fields, and for keeping gardens and golf courses pristine.

Monsanto Co reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit on strong sales of corn seed for spring planting and improved margins, but its shares fell more than 4 percent as the global agribusiness failed to raise its outlook for the full year. Officials at the world's largest seed company said the results were strong and showed Monsanto was on track with a strategic plan focused on steady growth in key crops. "We feel good about where we stand," said Chairman Hugh Grant. "I believe we are getting done what we needed to achieve in 2011."

A consortium of U.S. organic farmers and seed dealers filed suit against global seed giant Monsanto Co. on Tuesday, in a move to protect themselves from what they see as a growing threat in the company's arsenal of genetically modified crops. The Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT) filed the suit on behalf of more than 50 organizations challenging the agricultural giant's patents on its genetically modified seeds. The group is seeking a ruling that would prohibit Monsanto from suing the farmers or dealers if their organic seed becomes contaminated with Monsanto's patented biotech seed germplasm.

A month after receiving regulatory approval, Syngenta is starting to sign up U.S. farmers to grow its new biotech corn seed aimed at ethanol production, one small part in a larger push for the U.S. corn seed business by the Swiss agriculture company. Syngenta expects to enroll less than 20,000 acres in a contracted growing arrangement for the new corn seed this spring, a top company executive said Wednesday.

Dow AgroSciences has won approval from Brazil regulators for a new corn seed containing five genes that protect plants from insects and weed-killing treatments, an executive told Reuters. The new genetically modified corn seed, Powercore, is part of a cross-licensing agreement with rival Monsanto Co. Dow, a unit of Dow Chemical, said the seed is designed to help farmers fight above-ground pests that have battered crop production.