A member of the board of directors of agricultural biotechnology firm Syngenta, Carl Casale has previously served as CEO of one of the largest member-owned farming cooperatives in the United States. In February 2019, Carl Casale presented an informative talk at the Oregon Blueberry Conference where he discussed emerging trends in global agriculture. One such trend is consumers’ desire to eat food grown sustainably to counter the damage of large-scale industrial agriculture.

One of the considerations for sustainably grown crops is efficient water conservation. Thanks to biotechnology, Syngenta is developing corn seed varieties that, among other things, optimize water intake and have greater resistance to drought. The Agrisure Artesian corn hybrid is one such example. Artesian corn hybrids have multiple genes for optimal water usage and season-long drought protection. Insufficient water affects corn in many ways, from delaying silk emergence to causing leaves to wilt; inhibiting cell expansion; and reducing the plant’s uptake of soluble nutrients via the root systems. Artesian corn hybrids better synchronize pollen shedding and silk emergence to support fertilization, efficiently allocate resources to maximize grain yields, sustain growth even in dry climates, and enhance water and nutrient uptake.