Seminar to address ag technology

Genetically engineered plants and other agricultural developments will be the focus of a Nov. 5 and 6 campus seminar.

Agribusinessman and Delta and Pine Land Co. chief executive officer Roger Malkin will speak on "The Challenge of New Agricultural Technology and Mississippi State" at the 1998 Will Carpenter Adaptive Biotechnology Seminar.

A cotton seed breeding company and farm operations administrator, Malkin will speak Thursday, the 5th, at 1:30 p.m. in Tait-Butler Room of the Wise Center.

On Friday, Malkin discusses "Technology's Impact on Agriculture in the 21st Century" in the Wise Center auditorium at 1:30 p.m.

The Delta and Pine Land Co. of Scott is the largest non-government funded cotton seed breeding, production and marketing company in the world. The company also breeds, produces and markets soybean seeds and operates breeding and research programs in eight countries.

Biotechnology refers to the use of living organisms or parts of organisms such as enzymes to make or modify products to improve human health or the environment. Examples of biotechnology include the development of disease or insect resistant plants and the use of hormones in cattle.

The Delta and Pine Land Co. researches classical plant breeding and transgenic technologies. In 1996, Delta and Pine Land introduced cotton varieties reinforced with toxins that protect plants from moths and harmful insects. Such treatments reduce the amount of pesticides needed to protect plants and have initiated a shift from using chemicals to planting genetically enhanced seeds.

In its third year, the Will Carpenter Adaptive Biotechnology Seminar honors the retired vice president and general manager of new products for Monsanto Agricultural Chemicals. Carpenter is a 1952 graduate of Mississippi State and a former executive-in-residence at the university.

The lecture series annually recognizes leaders who provide executive leadership in biotechnology and have made outstanding contributions to the development of biotechnology products. The Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station and the Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine sponsor the event.

For more information, contact Dr. Dawn Luthe, chair of the Adaptive Biotechnology Committee, at 325-2640.