Post
Monsanto pledges to use less irrigation water
Monsanto says it aims to increase irrigation water-use efficiency in its seed production operations. Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant, says the company will cut water use by 25 percent in the next six years.
“Depending on weather, this could potentially be a savings of 30 billion to 80 billion gallons of water,” said Grant, during a conference call to reporters, “enough water to supply the Washington, D.C. for two to four years, or a savings of 45,000 to 110,000 Olympic pools of water.”
To reach the goal, Monsanto will expand implementation of drip irrigation, which, according to the company, improves water-use efficiency as much as 95 percent. The company already has deployed these systems at its facilities in areas like India, Hawaii and Mexico.
Monsanto also pledged that with smarter seeds and precision management, they’ll enable farmers to use nutrients more efficiently and curb greenhouse gas emissions on one million acres in the United States by 2020.
Speaking on behalf of Monsanto, central Illinois farmer Leon Corzine said he’s farming with greater efficiency than he used to.
“Today we work the ground in our operation generally one time and then we plant it, and collectively we use than one gallon of diesel fuel per acre,” said Corzine, also on the conference call. “That’s just unbelievable; if my dad could that today, he would just be shaking his head. It’s just hard to believe we’re that efficient.”
In line with Monsanto’s commitment of conserving natural resources, the company offers the full content of the Monsanto 2013 Sustainability Progress Update online.
Add Comment