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Monsanto pledges to partner with farmers to achieve sustainable yield – or doubling production in key crops while reducing natural resource use by a third – to help solve the global climate and hunger crises.
Climate change and population growth. Fresh water depletion and soil erosion. Deforestation and habitat loss. Rising energy demands and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These are among the challenges Monsanto is addressing as part of its commitment to sustainable agriculture. Production and conservation are at the heart of Monsanto’s commitment, announced in June 2008. In other words, it means increasing agricultural production to meet the demands for food, fuel, and fiber for a growing population, while simultaneously reducing environmental impacts, such as GHG emissions as well as land, water, and energy use from farming.
“The U.N. says we have to double food production by 2050 to meet the needs of a population projected to grow to 9 billion,” said Kevin Eblen, vice president of public policy and sustainability. “To do this, the world has two choices: we need to either make each acre of farmland twice as productive, or use twice as many acres.”
“Option two inevitably requires clear-cutting forests which can lead to habitat loss and the loss of carbon sequestration from those trees – hard choices in a world with a dramatically changing climate,” Eblen added. “So we at Monsanto consider it our responsibility to pursue the first option as vigorously as we can.”
Through its commitment to sustainable agriculture, Monsanto pledges to help farmers to double their yields of corn, cotton, soybeans, and spring-planted canola by the year 2030 (compared to a 2000 baseline.) The company also pledges to help farmers reduce by a third the amount of land, water, and energy used when growing crops (per unit of output).
Monsanto recognizes it cannot tackle this host of challenges alone, so it is partnering with other organizations. For example, the Field to Market project of the Keystone Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture teams Monsanto with some 30 other organizations, including food companies and environmental NGOs. The group is committed to achieving long-term, continuous improvement in sustainable agriculture production. The first phase of the project studies 21st century agricultural challenges by examining farmers’ efficiency gains over the past two decades in land, water, and energy use as well as GHG emissions.
In January 2009, the Keystone Alliance released its findings, which identified significant efficiency increases in corn, cotton, and soy — crops that have experienced scientific and technological advancements — but not in wheat, a crop whose productivity lagged behind due to inadequate progress to improve varieties and yield.
Eblen says that to fulfill the promise of sustainable agriculture, efficiency increases are an essential part of the solution, which includes advancements in seeds and modern agronomic practices.
“Monsanto defines sustainable agriculture as farming that meets the world’s growing needs while preserving opportunities for future generations,” Eblen said. “It’s farming that produces more while using fewer natural resources.”
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