Concentration of Ownership of Seeds

Wed, 02/02/2011 – Jude Fanton

Since 1995 the speed of take-overs of seed companies has increased astronomically. Now some 75% of all seed companies are owned by these nine corporations: – Monsanto, Bayer, Rhone Poulenc, Dupont, Syngenta, BASF, Hoechs, Novartis and Geigi. Most of these used to be either chemical or pharmaceutical companies. They retain the trading names of the seed companies they take over so farmers and gardeners are none the wiser as to who controls them. Below is a list of which seed companies the first five of these corporations own, starting with the largest of all seed traders.

Monsanto owns:

• DeKalb (1995)

• Sementes

• Agroceres

• Custom Farm Seed

• DeKalb Ayala

• Ayala

• AgriPro Wheat

• Hybri Tech Europe

• Pau Euralis Seminis

• Cargill Intl. Seed Division

• First Line

• Jacob Hartz (1995)

• Asgrow

• Holdens

• Renessen Cargill

• Calgene

• Cargill North America

• Agracetus

• PBIC

• Unilever

• Monsoy

• FT Sementes

• Delta Pine Land

• Syngenta Global Cotton Division

• Emergent Genetics

• Paras

• Mahendra

• Daehnfeldt

• ASI (American Seeds own all below and was taken over by Monsanto)

• Channel Bio

• Crows

• Midwest Seed Genetics

• Wilson Seeds

• Gold Country

• Heritage Seeds from Queensland, Australia

• NC Plus Hybrids

• SpecialtyHybrids

• Fontanelle

• Stewart Seeds

• Trelay Seeds

• Stone Seeds

• Corn Belt

• Advanta Canola

• Hubner Seed

• Lewis Hybrids

• REA

• Moweaqua Seeds

• iCORN

• Jung

• BoCa

• Interstate Canola

• Sensako

• Agroeste

• CDM Mandiyu

• Ciagro

• Carnia

• Diener

• Sieben

• Kruger

• Trisler

• Campbell Seed

• Fielders Choice

• Heartland Hybrids

• Hawkeye

• Nebraska Irrigated

• Limagrain Canada

• Poloni

• ISG

• Western

• Peotec

• Mahyco

• Terrazawa

• DeRuiter

• Aly Participacoes

• Marmot

• Cotton States

• Stoneville

• Corn States Hybrid

• Corn States Intl

• Ecogen

• CNDK

• China Seed

• EID Parry Rallis

Bayer

the German based pharmaceutical and chemical giant controls all these seed companies:

• Gustafson 
Nunhems (1995)

• Paragon 
Seed

• Ex 
Aventis

• AgrEvo

• Schering

• Proagro

• Sementes Ribeiral

• Sementes Fartura

• Mitla Pesquisa

• Granja4Irmaos

• AgrEvo Cotton PGS

• PlanTec Biotech

• GeneXSorghum

• CottonSeedIntl

• Sunseeds

• KWS

• Hoechst

• Nunza (1986)

Rhone Poulenc

the french petro chemical giant has these under its belt

• Leen De Mos

• 
RioColorado

• California Planting Cotton

• 
Reliance Genetics

• Assoc Farmers Delinting

• NideraSemillas 
Nidera

DuPont

• Pioneer

• Curry Seed

• Shandong Denghai Pioneer

• Denghai Dunhuang

• Dunhuang Pioneer

• DoisMarcos

• Hybrinova

• ProteinTech. Int.

• Optimum Quality Grains

Syngenta:

• SPS

• GoldenHarvest

• Goldsmith

• Resource Seeds

• Zeraim Gedera

• Sanbei

• Fischer

• Advanta NA Corn Soybeans

• Garst

• Interstate Payco

• AgriPro

• PSAGenetics

• Gutwein

• DiaEngei

• Novartis

• CibaGeigy

• Sandoz

• AstraZeneca

• Mogen

• ExSeed Thurston

• Maisadour

• Koipesol Agrosem Agra

• Eridania Beghin Say

• Sturdy Grow

• Land O’Lakes

• Agritrading

• NorthrupKing

• Limagrain Advanta EU Vegetable

• Westhove

• HarrisMoran

• Clause

• Biogemma

• RhoBio

• Agreliant

• Wensman

• Producers Hybrids

• Lochow Petkus (1967)

• CPB Twyford

• Hazera

• Carl Sperling

• Kyowa

• Innoseeds

• Bio Seeds

• Vanden Berg

• Germains Cotton

• Holland Cottonseed

• Brownfield Seed Delinting

• Helena Cotton

• Indusem

• Agroceres

• Barham

• Petoseed (1995)

• RoyalSluis (1995)

• Choong Ang

• Horticeres

• Bruinsma (1994)

• Genecorp(1994)

• Hungnong

• Green Leaf Genetics

• Verdia

• Avesthagen

• Conrad Fafard

• Long Reach AWB

• BASF

• Svalof Weibull

• Swaghat

• Cee Kay

• Australian Grain Tech

• Yuan Longping

• Dow

• Dairyland Seed

• Mycogen

• Bio Plant Research

• RenzeHybrids

• Agromen

• MTI

• Sudwestsaat

• Brodbeck

• DuoMaize

• Triumph

• Empresa Brasileira

• Hytest ABI Alfalfa

• Specialty Grains

• Cooperative BusinessIntl

• Agriliance

• Cenex Harvest

• Farmland Industries

• Cenex

• Harvest States

• SOYGENETICS

• FFRCoop

• Verneuil Holding

• Morgan

• United Agriseeds

• Hibridos Colorado

• Biogenetica De Milho

• Dinamilho Carol

• Phytogen

• JG Boswell

• Illinois Foundation

• Advanced Agri Traits