BEIJING: US-based multinational agricultural biotechnology company Monsanto has said that it plans to grow a new variety of corn on trial basis in China’s Jilin Province, a major maize-growing production area in northeast China.

The new corn variety will be high-yielding and pest-resistant, Mr Kevin Eblen, Monsanto’s regional leader for North Asia, said.

Monsanto has donated $200,000 to launch the “Monsanto Green Village” in Jilin, the company’s second project in China after initiating its first in Hebei Province in 2008.

The programme aims to educate farmers about agricultural technology and boost recycling in the countryside, the state-run Xinhua reported.

“Via implementation of the Monsanto green village programme, we hope to support more farmers and advance agricultural development in China,” Mr Eblen said. — PTI