Posted July 16, 2007, at 11:18 a.m. CDT

DuPont announced last week that one of its subsidiaries, Pioneer Hi-Bred, will open a soybean research center in Lawrence, Kan., to enhance product development and testing in Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri. The center is part of a $100 million reinvestment by DuPont in its seed business to improve products through development and into commercialization.

The research center will focus on seed varieties specific to the region and will focus on developing varieties with tolerances designed to counter local conditions that reduce yields.

The center will be Pioneer's third crop-specific research center in Kansas. Besides the Lawrence soybean research center, the company has a corn research facility in Garden City and a sorghum facility in Manhattan.