Farmers will have to buy the seeds at markets to avoid flooding the local economy with free goods, but Monsanto will not receive any revenue from the sales, Vancil said. A spokesman for the U.S. Agency for International Development program distributing the seeds could not immediately provide more details.
Haiti's agriculture ministry approved the donation, while UPS and Switzerland-based Kuehne and Nagel are assisting with the shipping and logistics, Monsanto said.
The announcement raised concerns in Haiti that the donation would include genetically modified seeds, for which the country does not have a regulatory system. Monsanto representatives said no such seeds will be included.
Instead they are sending hybrid seeds, which are produced by manually cross-pollinating plants. The company said the seeds produce larger yields than non-hybrid seeds, but that with such a variety new seeds have to be purchased and planted every year.
For decades Haiti has been unable to feed itself, while local farms have been wiped out by competition from cheap foreign food and free food aid -- especially from the United States. The U.N. World Food Program estimates 2.4 million Haitians, a quarter of the country, do not have enough to eat.
Hattie 
