Pioneer to launch new corn and rice hybrids in India

 Pioneer Hi-Bred, a DuPont business, will release 16 new Pioneer® brand corn and rice hybrids for farmers across India for the 2010 planting season. These new hybrids will offer higher yields and choices to farmers across the country.

• Pioneer® P3501 corn hybrid is a superior choice for the high-yield farm segment, where Pioneer is a current leader.

• Pioneer® P3540 corn hybrid outyields on-farm trials in the rain-fed segment.

• Rice hybrid Pioneer® 27P31 has strong yields, and is suited for areas that rotate crops, including the north and eastern states of Haryana, Punjab, UP, Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.

“Pioneer is the undisputed industry leader in placing the right product on the right hectare to maximize farmers’ productivity and profitability in an environmentally sustainable manner,” said Bill Niebur, DuPont vice president, crop genetics research and development. “We are committed to increasing global agricultural productivity to meet the growing demand for food, feed, fuel and materials through innovation-rich products developed specifically to meet farmers’ needs within the means of our ecosystem.”

“India is a key agriculture market, and the new products will allow us to offer improved genetics to meet specific growing challenges,” said K V Subbarao, Pioneer India business leader. “This new class will continue to provide high-yield potential combined with the industry-leading quality for which Pioneer is known.”

The 2010 product launches are the result of increased commitment and investment directed towards localized breeding and testing that help ensure Pioneer continues to deliver unmatched local performance advantages that meet customers’ needs on a field-by-field basis. With eight Pioneer research locations in India, extensive product evaluation networks and the DuPont Knowledge Center in Hyderabad, investments in seed research in India increased by more than 24% in 2009.

Pioneer has been developing and characterizing hybrid seed for farmers in India for more than 30 years and is one of the nation’s leading suppliers of improved seed genetics. Pioneer supports the sale of its products to more than 1.5 million customers in India with an extensive sales and agronomy team that works closely with Indian farmers.