The five-year collaboration will focus on creating variations of broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce and spinach, the companies said on Tuesday.

The results could include vegetables that are more colorful, tastier, less susceptible to bruising and have a longer shelf-life.

She also stressed that these new variants will not be genetically modified like the company's much larger corn seed and soybean products.

Also known for its herbicide business, Monsanto has been aggressively growing its vegetable business with recent moves such as the 2005 acquisition of Seminis, which gave Monsanto control over more than 30 percent of the North American vegetable seed market.