Growing Ecosystems

Sangeeta Dawar's Story

“Going forward, in the next 10 years, the largest goal is to make it big enough to see that impact in society."
“Partners should be ethical, technology driven, and able to give us the platform to make this convergence happen. Fast."
Previous
Next

Scaling Partnerships for Value

Sangeeta Dawar leads the Public Affairs and Sustainability department at Bayer Crop Science. She uses her scientific background to take a grassroots approach to gathering knowledge about sustainability efforts and create insights into real-world actions being taken to improve sustainability in agriculture. She is particularly passionate about driving the transformation of the rice crop system through a regenerative DSR approach, aiming to deliver better returns on investment with a grower-centric focus.

Bayer is a global life sciences company focused on healthcare and agriculture. It aims to drive sustainable development through scientific innovation, addressing key challenges in health and nutrition. Bayer Crop Science, one of its major divisions, develops solutions to increase agricultural productivity while supporting environmental sustainability.

 

Sector: Pharmaceuticals & biotechnology

 

Employees: 100’000 employees globally

 

Geography: HQ in Germany with operations globally 

 

Website:  https://www.bayer.com/en/ OR https://www.bayer.com/en/agriculture-overview

Challenges
faced

In Sangeeta’s mission to embed sustainability into Bayer’s agricultural activities – particularly in India’s rice farming practices – she faced challenges on multiple fronts.

 

Internally, aligning sustainability with the company’s commercial agenda was a crucial task. Sangeeta came across divergence from stakeholders who questioned how sustainability practices could fit within a profit-driven landscape.

Externally, she grappled with the complexity of India’s agricultural landscape, facing environmental, social, and regulatory challenges. Environmentally, rice farming is highly water-dependent, leading to significant water depletion and methane emissions. Socially, the labor-intensive nature of traditional rice farming places a heavy burden on farmers, especially during labor shortages like those experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. On the policy front, outdated regulations lagged behind technological advancements, requiring Sangeeta to work closely with policymakers to foster an environment conducive to sustainable farming practices. Attaining water productivity, maintaining soil health, and reducing the carbon footprint are essential for ensuring long-term food security. To achieve this, building a comprehensive end-to-end value chain in agriculture is crucial. Indian agriculture also faces challenges in adopting digital tools and advanced technologies like drones and AI, which are key to unlocking the full potential of a regenerative cropping system.

Committed to advancing sustainability in agriculture, she knew that fostering more mindful and responsible practices and partnering with the right organizations would be essential to drive meaningful and lasting change.

Actions
taken

Sangeeta began by understanding the agricultural ecosystem and getting the right partners on board to drive change. Her approach focused on fostering internal dialogues and building external partnerships aligned with Bayer’s vision of sustainability.

 

Internally, she provided insights into market needs and demonstrated how sustainable practices could align with Bayer’s commercial goals. She showed that sustainability was not only ethical and ecological but also commercially viable, linking it to Bayer’s technological innovations, such as improved weed management and sustainable seed genetics. This way, Sangeeta was able to create a shift towards more conscientious and ethical approaches to commercial activities.

 

Externally, Sangeeta forged partnerships with ethical, technology-driven partners, ensuring their values and expertise aligned to effectively address complex sustainability challenges through innovative solutions and existing technology.

"Partners should be ethical, technology driven, and able to give us the platform to make this convergence happen. Fast."
"Implementing direct-seeded rice is a collaborative effort involving ecosystem partners, internal and global stakeholders, the government, and knowledge partners."
Previous
Next

Through partnerships with organizations such as IRRI, ICAR, WBCSD, the World Bank, Arya.ag, drone startups, and NGOs like Sattva, Sangeeta, along with the Bayer team, successfully scaled the implementation of Direct Seeded Rice (DSR) — a method that is both resource-efficient and less labor-intensive. This approach integrates advanced technologies such as laser leveling and specialized seeders to ensure optimal plant spacing through row-to-row planting.

 

In addition to her work with policymakers and ecosystem partners, she is also leading the digital agriculture mission through a public-private joint initiative.

 

Additionally, Sangeeta helped create a framework for voluntary carbon market in agriculture, working with diverse stakeholders to promote sustainable farming practices.

Resonance
of impact

Sangeeta’s efforts have had a significant impact on Bayer’s sustainability goals – and particularly the 2030 commitments of the company’s Crop Science division. These include reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30% in key markets, and improving water use efficiency by 25%. These advancements have been critical in transforming rice farming practices to be more sustainable, benefiting both the environment and farming communities.

"Going forward, in the next 10 years, the largest goal is to make it big enough to see that impact in society."

In addition, Sangeeta’s focus on smallholder farmers has supported Bayer’s goal of improving the lives of 100 million smallholders in low- and middle-income countries. By providing access to agronomic education and innovative products, these farmers have experienced improved incomes and better livelihoods, contributing to economic growth in rural communities.

 

Looking ahead, Sangeeta is focused on scaling these efforts, and establishing a more robust system for measuring, validating, and accruing value from sustainability practices.

What Sangeeta found useful during her ESG journey

WBCSD and the International Rice Research Institute for sustainable rice landscape brought valuable insights into the type of partners to consider.

Relevant resources to Sangeeta’s work

Skip to content