Field to Market

An article, "Monsanto India joins Field to Market alliance", in the Financial Express (India) reports that Monsanto India Ltd (MIL) has joined Field to Market of The Keystone Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture.

The article reports:

Field to Market is a diverse alliance representing the many links in the food chain, including grower organisations, agribusinesses, food companies and conservation organisations focusing on increasing agri-productivity while decreasing environmental impact, improving human health through access to safe, nutritious food and improving social and economic well-being of rural communities.

Some of Field to Market members include: American Soybean Association, Bayer CropScience, Bunge, Cargill, ConAgra Foods, DuPont, Grocery Manufacturers Association, National Association of Wheat Growers, National Corn Growers Association, National Cotton Council of America, National Potato Council, Syngenta, The Coca-Cola Company, The Fertilizer Institute, Kellogg Company, The Nature Conservancy, United Soybean Board; and World Wildlife Fund.

Field to Market has just initiated its work to develop and improve meaningful metrics and create programmes to promote continuous improvement toward sustainability throughout the food and fiber chain. The Alliance recently released the environmental resource indicators report, the first step in a comprehensive data-driven initiative to quantify and promote sustainable agricultural practices.

The report is significant for its direction toward creating a comprehensive methodology that can become the standard for defining and measuring agriculture sustainability. A wide spread peer-review process included experts from universities, government and other institutions to help enhance the methodology, generating broad consensus for it as standard setting.

The report evaluated land use, water use, energy use, soil loss and climate impact in US corn, cotton, soy and wheat production over the past two decades. It showed how much resource use efficiency on US farms has improved over the past two decades, primarily due to gains in productivity. It also reinforces the need for even more innovation and collaboration to drive continued improvement in these outcomes.

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