Bayer-Monsanto: Are they coming for our seeds?

Monsanto and Bayer have merged to form the world's—and India's—largest seed and chemicals company. No one here can challenge their research prowess. No one's trying

On 22 May, the CCI conditionally approved Bayer’s acquisition of controversial agri-biotech company Monsanto

With this acquisition, 61% of the global seed and pesticide market will be in the hands of three companies

Indian seed companies are not worried, but should they be?

MNCs are the drivers of innovation at a time global agriculture is undergoing a major disruption

Big Ag just became humongous.

On 4 July, Bayer AG, the German multinational pharma company, bought the world’s most controversial agriculture company, Monsanto, in a $66-billion deal that gave Bayer control over a whopping 30% of the global seed market and a quarter of the pesticide market.

The merger, two years in the making, is part of a wave. US’ DowDupont and China’s ChemChina-Syngenta were formed through a merger in 2017. With Bayer-Monsanto (Bayer will later drop the Monsanto tag), 61% of the global seed and pesticide market will be in the hands of just three players.

AUTHOR

Gayathri Vaidyanathan

Gayathri writes on health, environment and science. She has reported and produced stories for the Washington Post, Discover, Nature, and the New York Times, amongst other publications. In her last assignment, she was the lead science writer for E&E News in Washington, D.C. E&E News is a news organisation focused on energy and the environment. Over the past decade, Gayathri has travelled across North America, Africa and Asia on long-form reporting projects. She has a master’s in journalism from Columbia University and a bachelor's in biochemistry from McMaster University in Ontario. At The Ken, Gayathri will write on healthcare, the pharmaceutical business and the environment. Based in Bengaluru, you can reach her at gayathri at the rate the-ken.com

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