Produce More, Conserve More - How Can Monsanto Do Both?
On Feb. 17, Jerry Steiner, Monsanto executive vice president of corporate affairs, addressed more than 230 experts in agriculture during the World Grains Trade Summit in Singapore.
Steiner discussed the Sustainable Yield Initiative, Monsanto’s three-fold commitment to sustainable agriculture.
“The world is facing complex agricultural challenges combined with population growth, limited arable land, and climate change,” Steiner said.
“Enhancing productivity is the answer,” he said. “As a company solely focused on agriculture, Monsanto believes these challenges can be met in a sustainable way, and that there is a role Monsanto can play with our breeding and biotechnology capabilities.”
The two-day summit brought together commodity trade finance professionals, grain traders, government officials and stakeholders throughout the grain value chain to discuss the global economic downturn and the agricultural commodity market. Monsanto is committed to doubling yield with a third less resources and improving farmers’ lives by 2030.
“Monsanto’s pipeline is full of promising potential products that will help growers--including resource-poor farmers in the Asia region--to produce more, conserve more and as a result, live better lives,” Steiner said. “Some of the exciting projects underway include higher-yielding corn, nitrogen-use efficiency corn and drought-tolerant crops that continue to yield despite low-water conditions.”
During the conference, other companies acknowledged Monsanto’s approach to sustainable agriculture. Conference presenters Gu Lifeng of COFCO Logistics & Trading Co. Ltd and Bipin Karnik, SGS Singapore both referred to it as an important initiative.
