December 6, 2010

Monsanto to double Dekalb corn land

Monsanto India Ltd (MIL) is planning to double the area for Dekalb 900M Gold, a high-yielding hybrid corn variety in India's Karnataka.

Mr Ashutosh Nanoti, Regional Sales Manager, Monsanto India stated that during the Kharif, an area of 1.30 lakh acres were covered under Dekalb 900M Gold. Out of this, about one lakh acres were in North Karnataka districts which comprises of Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri, and Davangere.

Meanwhile, they were able to cover Dekalb 900M Gold in 35,000 acres in the State of which north Karnataka districts' share was 22,000 acres, in kharif 2009.

The southern state of Karnataka has the largest corn acreage in India with 13.7 lakh hectares and is one of the States where the average corn yield is more at 21 quintals a hectare against 19 quintals of the all-India average.

Dekalb harvest mela was attended by over 150 farmers from 12 villages which include retailers.

Moreover, Mr Siddappa Dokannavar, a farmer from Amargol village near Hubli was felicitated for attaining a higher productivity of 36 quintals an acre against the national average of 26 quintals.

Whereas, another farmer namely Mr Dayanand S Patil of Garag village shared and demonstrated on his farm the best practice to achieve higher yield.

Monsanto India conveyed agronomy education on seed selection, best agronomic practices for corn, sustainable agriculture and need for agri-innovations in order to enhance the productivity of crop.