'Our agriculture business in India will double in five years'

DuPont Group Vice President James Borel, Global Head of all DuPont’s Agriculture & Nutrition businesses, was in India recently. He spoke on what agriculture and nutrition mean for DuPont and where India fits in the company’s overall growth strategy. Excerpts:

DuPont has just acquired the cotton seed business of Nandi Seeds and cotton germplasm from Nagarjuna Seeds. How does it fit into the overall strategy of DuPont?
These two acquisitions in India represent our first foray into the cotton market. It is a very important crop for the Indian market and we think we can make a difference with our breeding and biotechnology capability and help farmers improve quality and yields.

How significant is agriculture and nutrition for DuPont and what role is India playing in these segments?
In normal times, the agriculture and nutrition businesses are over a quarter of DuPont revenues. This year, they will be over 40 per cent of the earnings. India would probably be one of the top five markets for us. We are investing heavily to grow in India. Globally, the company spends about $ 1.4 billion a year in research and over half of that is for agriculture and nutrition. And much of that investment in research has applications to India.

Five years from now, what will India mean as a market and in terms of investments?
Our agriculture business in India is expected to double in the next five years based on the products that we can bring. Our investments in research will continue to increase and I would not be surprised if even that gets doubled in this time period.