Monsanto sees growing water shortage issues ahead

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Monsanto Co (MON.N), the world leader in biotech crops, sees water shortages being a growing issue in the years ahead and expects its drought tolerant corn seed to play a role in easing pressure on this key resource, said Chief Executive Hugh Grant on Friday.

"We've been in an energy squeeze and a food squeeze, but I think the water one is going to be even more dramatic (and the) water one is coming," said Grant, in an interview with Reuters.

St Louis-based Monsanto has just announced it plans to double yield in its three core crops of corn, soybeans and cotton by 2030, compared to a base year of 2000.

Monsanto and Dow Chemical's (DOW.N) AgroSciences unit are partnering to develop the first-ever eight-gene stacked combination in corn, which will start adding to revenue by 2010.

The seed offering will contain eight genes that protect the corn crop against above- and below-ground insects. It also will guard the crop from being damaged by some weed control chemicals.

Monsanto intends to add its own proprietary drought tolerant trait to this offering by 2012.

"We will double our business by the summer of 2012," said Grant, "The big thing that will drive this is growth in corn, both in North America and globally."

Shares of Monsanto, which closed Thursday at $138.51 a share, have more than doubled in less than a year, boosting the company's market capitalization to over $76 billion.

(Reporting by Euan Rocha, editing by Phil Berlowitz)