The evolution of the seed industry in India can be traced back to the early 1960s. During the early years, public sector organisations such as National Seed Corporation and State Seed Corporations met the initial seed requirements. In the mid 1960s, high yielding varieties in rice and wheat were developed and till date they are the biggest cereal crops in India. The private sector entered the fray at a very early stage when the demand-supply gap still existed. Its main research activities were directed towards developing seeds of low volume, high value cross-pollinated crops. As it stands today, the Indian seed industry is polarised, where the demand for high volume self-pollinated crops is met by the public sector and high value seeds are provided by the private sector. India is an unique example where the public and private sector seed companies coexist.

Worldwide, corn or maize, as it is called in India, is the most important cereal. It ranks first in terms of production among cereals, just ahead of wheat and significantly ahead of rice. India is amongst the top ten th producers of corn in the world, ranking 7 th in terms of production and 5 in terms of acreage (around 6.5 million hectares). However, despite this position, India only produces about 2% of the world's corn even though it accounts for nearly 5% of the world's area under corn.

Low productivity level in corn is an issue of major concern in the country. One of the reasons for low yields in the country is the use of traditional variety seeds and low yield potential genetic mix. This situation has, more or less, remained stagnant during the last two decades. Private sector research and extension activities and corn grain demand from feed and starch industries had driven the use of hybrid corn seed in Southern states, where now hybridisation is almost 100%. But the states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, which account for 50% of corn acreage in country, still has more than 70% of corn acreage under traditional varieties.

Corn is the primary focus of growth for Monsanto's organisations worldwide. At Monsanto India Limited, we are working actively towards filling the gap in the shortfall of corn in the country (about 1-2 million metric tones). To achieve this we are doing three things:

1. We are converting low yielding, open pollinated seed varieties into hybrids
2. Our corn breeding and research program is developing highly improved, superior hybrids that will allow Indian corn farmers to increase per unit productivity, and
3. We are educating farmers on improved agronomic and crop management practices to achieve maximum yield potential from these high yielding hybrids.

A decade ago, corn was not a major economic crop in India. Today, with the economy growing, the demand for corn is also growing, primarily in the poultry and cattle feed sectors. In the near future, corn is expected to be a major contributor to the agricultural share in the GDP. There are several opportunities for value addition in corn as there are about 3,500 byproducts (fibre, bio-degradable plastic, and so on). The returns for serious corn farmers are getting more attractive, elevating corn to the rd 3 largest cereal crop after wheat and rice.

We have segmented the Indian corn market into developed and developing markets. The developing markets consist of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh, covering 55% of the corn acreage in the country. With hybridisation as low as less than 30% in these states, our focus is to increase the adoption of hybrids in these states. The developed states include states such as Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu where we have a good market presence. Here our primary focus is on further upgrading farmers to high yielding hybrids and education on improved agronomic practices.

DEKALB BRAND

In India, corn is being promoted under the umbrella brand of Dekalb, which is a 109 year old seed brand owned by Monsanto Co., USA. Under 'The DEKALB Promise', we pledge to offer “hybrids that are researched, tested, proven and guaranteed to deliver excellent results and bring about that transformation in the farmer's life.” Our commitment is represented in our Dekalb logo where the cob represents state-of-the-art processes for a rich crop, while the blue arc represents life, vitality and change.

For any new agricultural input or technology adoption, the early progressive farmers are the major influencers (60% plus) on the decision making process of fellow farmers. Time and again, this fact has been validated in the findings of number of market research studies commissioned by us. Building on this precept, we conceptualised the Dekalb Advocacy Program (DAP). This program is aimed at building long-term customer relationship and empowering farmers with knowledge and information to advance its farming practices.

Under the DAP, Dekalb farmer clubs have been formed in major corn growing districts. Each club has representatives from major corn growing villages, including areas where farmers are growing low value hybrids or variety seed, as well as from villages where Dekalb hybrids have strong presence. These farmers are networked through common activities like training programs, visits to agro fairs and exposure to latest technological advances in agriculture research and farming practices. Pursuant to finding solutions, they discuss their cropping practices and crop issues. The final aim is to link these farmers with the end user industry.

Our key to success is our strength in Research and Development (R&D), manufacturing, marketing and sales and our wide channel presence. We are now beginning to see the returns on our investments. With particular focus on our R&D activities and using the best available technology, we have launched three new hybrids this year Pinnacle, Supreme and 900M Gold. Justifying our belief, new generation corn hybrid, Pinnacle has delivered an average yield of 12 MT/Hectare, which is amongst the best in the world.

During the period under review, our focus has been on creating a strong presence in the field. We have increased our sales force to 35 with a dedicated team of territory salesmen and marketing development people. Leveraging our competitive advantage of channel presence, we now have a separate and focused team for the corn business, which has gained a unique position across all the major corn markets in India. We plan to increase this figure every year, to reach the so far unexplored markets.

We have given emphasis on competency building and education amongst our territory sales managers and contract workers who work with farmers. Regular farmer meetings are held and during the course of these meetings, farmers are educated on how to choose the best seeds, how to plant them, on pest management & harvesting and on post harvest handling.

We are focused in building our base in corn for volume as well as value. Over the last five years, we have tripled the volume of our corn production. This has largely been the result of the market development activities undertaken by us. Our farmer centric approach and segment focused marketing strategy in the Indian market has helped us to leverage local advantages. Although the key states continue to be Bihar, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, there is phenomenal scope for growth in Northern and Western states.

BREEDING

Quality seeds are the most critical and basic input for a healthy and ef ficient agricultural output, accounting for 25-30% of yield increase. We are now, a leading hybrid seeds producing company and are set to bring in many new breakthrough technologies in the near future.

Our R&D in corn is in tune with the farmers' preference and market requirements. We carry out a 'Need Gap Analysis' every year, for every market. On the basis of this analysis, the R&D group is briefed on needed hybrids for specific segments, groups and markets. Towards this end, we work with trade industries, grain processors and the cattle feed industry to understand their needs. Our aim is to understand the specific needs of niche areas, since every segment requires different characteristics in corn.

Gradually, the corn market is upgrading and moving from Double cross genetic base to Three way and Single cross hybrids. In October 2005, we launched the single cross corn hybrid Pinnacle, with a very high yield potential. We also launched 900M Gold to replace the current commercial hybrid 900M. We have a strong pipeline for wet and dry season cultivation for Peninsular and Eastern India.

"We are set to bring in many new breakthrough technologies in the near future, providing quality seeds with higher yields."

PROJECT LINK: NORTH BENGAL

In North Bengal, Monsanto's Project Link has been operational since 2003. Like previous years, this year also we have helped the farmers in buyback of grain. Six farmers clubs are now operational, out of which Rath Bari Farmers Club and Berubai Farmers Club (in Jalpaiguri District) were formed in April 2005 and March 2006 respectively.

All the farmer clubs not only help farmers to sell their produce but also assist them by providing crop knowledge and other crop related solutions. The farmer clubs maintain close association with Monsanto and the buyback partners.

In the last four months, these buyback partners in coordination with the farmers clubs have procured 90% of the total produce of Jalpaiguri and Coochbehar district. Seeing the success of these farmers clubs, we are now looking for associating with more buyback partners.