BEIJING--(Marketwire - Nov 8, 2011) - Agria Corporation (NYSE: [ GRO ]) (the "Company" or "Agria"), a China-based company with investments in the agriculture sector, today announced it has received the first phase of a grant to help fund Sino-New Zealand joint research into high technology content grass seeds for the China market. This stage grant is for RMB6 million ($0.9 million) and has been made by the Science and Technology division of the Beijing Government.

The grant will be used to fund joint research and development into the adaptation of six grass seed varieties that were originally developed in conjunction with Agria's subsidiary PGG Wrightson with a view to the seed varieties' application in China.

The R&D project also intends to develop GAP (Good Agricultural Practice) in the development of grass seed technology by following the high standards set in New Zealand.

Agria's VP Charles Jiang said: "China has 390 million hectares of natural grassland but much of this is of very low productivity. By working jointly with our and our partners' scientists in China, those in New Zealand and our subsidiary PGG Wrightson, we aim to develop high technology content grasses to allow for the increase of productivity of this grass land. This is the latest success of Agria's strategy of working with leading government science departments in China to secure a pipeline of next generation seed technologies for future commercialization. It will also serve to strengthen the PGW brand in China."

About Agria Corporation

Agria Corporation (NYSE: [ GRO ]) is a China-based agriculture company with operations in China and internationally. In China, we engage in research and development, production and sale of seed products, including field corn seeds, edible corn seeds and vegetable seeds. We own through Agria Asia a 50.01% equity interest in PGW, New Zealand's largest agricultural services company. PGG Wrightson reported turnover of NZ$1.2 billion (US$1.0 billion) for the twelve months ended June 30, 2011. For more information about PGW, please visit [ www.pggwrightson.co.nz ]. For more information about Agria Corporation, please visit [ www.agriacorp.com ].

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