India—Moving from Rice to Corn Saves Water

Farmers in Punjab, India, traditionally grow rice, and recently their yields were declining dramatically. The difficulty was caused by water depletion, up to 74 cm per year. Monsanto saw an opportunity to step in and help farmers in this region. Working with the State Government, the Punjab State Farmer’s Commission (PSFC) and the Department of Agriculture, we offered our assistance by helping farmers implement irrigation systems and changing crops. By replacing rice with a DEKALB^®corn hybrid and a crop rotation system, farmers used only 98.3 cm of irrigation water as opposed to their traditional 224.3 cm of water per year. Thanks to these improvements, farmers in India are now saving 800 million gallons of water per year.