$6 million DuPont donation to alleviate damage to crops

DuPont will donate a patent and related technical information valued at $6 million to Penn State to encourage the commercial development of compounds to alleviate crop damage caused by mites.

The announcement was made Monday at DuPont headquarters in Wilmington, Del.

Three universities -- Penn State, University of Iowa and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University -- were given patents to study advances, according to a press release. The total contribution value is $64 million.

The patent Penn State will receive covers a family of compounds useful in controlling mites, which are destructive pests to many important agronomic crops.

DuPont is a global research and technology-based company that operates in 70 countries.

--by Jennifer Nejman