High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Genetic use restriction technology (GURT), colloquially known as terminator technology, is the name given to proposed methods for restricting the use of genetically modified plants by causing second generation seeds to be sterile. The technology was developed under a cooperative research and development agreement between the Agricultural Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture and Delta and Pine Land company in the 1990s, but it is not yet commercially available. Because some stakeholders expressed concerns that this technology might lead to dependence for poor smallholder farmers, Monsanto Company, an agricultural products company and the world`s biggest seed supplier, pledged not to commercialize the technology in 1999. However, customers who buy seeds from Monsanto Company must sign a Monsanto Technology/Stewardship Agreement. "The agreement specifically states that the grower will not save or sell the seeds from their harvest for further planting, breeding or cultivation". This legal agreement preempts the need for a "terminator gene". Late in 2006, Monsanto acquired Delta and Pine Land company, along with its greenhouse tests of Terminator seeds and rights to its Canadian patent on Terminator granted on October 11 2005. D PL has long vowed to commercialize Terminator, targeting rice, wheat and soy in particular.