Investors achieve returns by planting the seed capital that sprouts into new companies, better goods and rising living standards.

FORBES: Paying Tribute To The Vital Entrepreneurs Who Get Rich

In my freshman phys ed class at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science, we were required to learn to shoot a rifle for target shooting purposes (although I think planting the seed of arming future inner-city pharmacists was an ulterior motive).

FORBES: The NRA's Communications Crisis

When Godard Abel began the B2B sales and software company, BigMachines, he was based in Chicago, so planting the startup seed near the city was a no-brainer.

FORBES: Tech Startup City: G2 Crowd in Chicago

The people of Myanmar are also buying planting tools and seed in preparation for the monsoon rains that typically come in May, Sitko said.

CNN: A year after cyclone, a girl remembers

After their cotton had been ginned, farmers would keep some of the seed for next year's planting, plow some into the ground as fertilizer, and use the rest to feed their cows.

NPR: Texas Cotton: 'Farmer Profits at Every Step'

It seems that in the rush to mega farming in the United States, GPS positioning devices are utilized to exactly place seed into the ground when planting.

FORBES: T-Mobile-Sprint Merger Would Need Clearwire Spectrum

Washington (CNN) -- Hugh Bowman's unusual planting methods for his Indiana farm landed him in trouble with the world's largest seed producer, and it appears the Supreme Court may not see things his way either.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

There is even a thriving market in smuggled seed in Brazil, where the government has not yet formally authorised commercial planting.

ECONOMIST: Genetically modified food: Far less scary than it used to be | The