Monsanto Co. said on Wednesday it will withdraw all pending approval requests to grow new types of genetically modified crops in the European Union, due to the lack of commercial prospects for the technology there.

"We will be withdrawing the approvals in the coming months," Monsanto's President and Managing Director for Europe, Jose Manuel Madero, told Reuters by telephone.

Monsanto said the decision covered five approval requests to grow genetically modified maize, one soybean and one sugar beet. The company said it would not withdraw its application to renew the approval for its MON810 maize, the only GMO crop currently cultivated commercially in Europe.