March 27, 2002-- India's Genetic Engineering Approval Committee has approved commercial production of Bt cotton in the world's third-largest
cotton-producing nation. Cotton seed will be available in India for the 2002 growing season, which is scheduled to begin in the second
quarter. The insect-protected technology will be marketed by Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company (Mahyco) under Monsanto's Bollgard
brand name.

The GEAC March 26 announced its decision to allow commercial production of Bt cotton. On March 27, the committee declared it will be
legal to plant three Mahyco hybrids from from April 2002 to March 2005. Monsanto owns a 26 percent share in the Bombay-based seed
company which has been conducting field trials and laboratory tests on Bt cotton for six years.

In addition to conditions on what Bt cotton hybrids may be planted and for how long, the GEAC stipulated that fields where BT cotton is
planted must be surrounded a refuge belt up of up to 20 percent of total planted area.

GEAC chairman A.M. Gokhale told an international press conference that the committee intends to render decisions on other genetically
modified crops, including mustard, soybeans and corn, in the near future.

"We are pleased that cotton growers will now have the choice to plant insect-protected cotton seeds," says Raju Barwale, managing
director of Mahyco. "For years, Indian cotton growers have suffered from the effects of heavy bollworm infestations that have destroyed
crops across the country and deprived them of profits. Growers can now feel confident that they have a solution to help them fight this pest.

"Mahyco has worked diligently over the last six years, in compliance with the regulatory requirements stipulated by local authorities, to
demonstrate the safe use and effectiveness of this technology," Barwale says.

Established in 1964, Mahyco was one of the key companies that helped usher in India's "Green Revolution." Founded by 1998 World Food
Prize winner B. R. Barwale, Mahyco played a pioneering role in developing the private seed Industry in India and is India's largest private
sector seed company today. It offers farmers a broad range of products in 38 crop species through a network of 5,000 sales outlets across
India.

Monsanto's Bt cotton, first commercialized in 1996, is already commercially sold in seven countries -- the United States, China, Mexico,
Australia, Argentina, South Africa and Indonesia. The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA) recently
noted that genetically modified cotton acreage was approximately 6.8 million hectares in 2001 or 16.8 million acres. This is an increase of
28 percent from acreage in 2000, which was approximately 5.3 million hectares.