High-tech investors have long considered agriculture to be a losing proposition, scorning it as a backwater in favor of fast-growing biotech sectors focused on human health. But the budding success of the first generation of genetically engineered crops-and projections that growth will skyrocket over the next several years-is rapidly catching the attention of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.

In the latest example, Burrill & Co., a San Francisco investment house, is raising a $100 million war chest earmarked for new agriculture startups. "This is a huge amount of money for ag biotech. There hasn't been much money going into this sector at all," says Roger Wyse, the former dean of the University of Wisconsin's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, who is directing Burrill's investments. Backed by such corporate giants as Bayer and Hoechst, the managers of the fund see plenty of opportunity in this underfunded field.
The reason for all the interest is clear. Big agricultural chemical producers like Monsanto and DuPont and seed suppliers like Pioneer Hi-Bred International have looked into their farmers' almanacs and concluded that biotech is the future. The ag giants are already selling seeds for herbicide-resistant soybeans and insect-fighting corn. First commercialized several years ago, these genetically engineered crops are proving to be blockbusters. And the projected growth numbers are staggering. Analysts predict that biotech crops will be worth $7 billion by 2005.