By DAVID KESMODEL
The agriculture industry is trying to toughen up corn.

With the Farm Belt recovering from one of the worst summers of drought in decades, the companies that supply corn seeds are rolling out new strains that can survive with less water. It’s a wide-ranging, big-budget battle covering a lot of fronts, from crossbreeding crops to tinkering with the plants’ genes.

More in Innovations in Agriculture
The Future of Agriculture May Be in Cities
The Quest for a Tasty Tomato
Why High Oil Prices Are Good for Farming
At Harvest Time, a Hand From Robots
From Corporate World to Farmstead
Read the complete report .

.There is no magic bullet, researchers warn. But even incremental gains could have big results, given the size and importance of the corn crop.

Advances that produce just a 1% gain in corn yield from year to year can have “a huge economic impact,” says David Lightfoot, a geneticist at Southern Illinois University. “It’s the crop that’s grown in some of the driest areas of the Midwest, and it’s the one where progress is going to have the biggest payoff.”

Stalking the Perfect Ear
The U.S. is the world’s biggest producer and exporter of corn, generating a crop valued at $76.5 billion in 2011, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Corn also touches many parts of the economy—serving as the basis for food sweeteners, livestock feed and ethanol fuel—and poor harvests can have far-reaching repercussions.

Enlarge Image

CloseSyngenta

A trial of Syngenta’s drought-resistant corn (right) versus a conventional strain during this year’s drought.
.For years, Monsanto Co., DuPont Co. and Syngenta AG have used conventional breeding techniques and biotechnology to create corn that is hardier overall, including hybrids that hold up better when water is scarce. Their efforts—as well as improved farming practices—have reduced drought-related losses in yield for the U.S. corn crop by about 1% a year in recent decades, according to a study published in 2010 by Iowa State University researchers.

But recently the ag giants began introducing corn varieties that are specifically designed to endure drought.

Syngenta has offered a limited commercial launch of a drought-tolerant corn called Agrisure Artesian over the past two years and plans an expanded offering for next year’s planting. The seed can increase yields by as much as 15% over other hybrid corns in “a moderate to severe drought,” says Wayne Fithian, a Syngenta product manager who oversees drought-tolerant corn.

DuPont’s Optimum AQUAmax hit the market last year and was planted on about two million acres in the Corn Belt in 2012. DuPont’s agricultural arm, DuPont Pioneer, says harvest data show that in drought conditions, the corn has yields about 8% higher than leading competing hybrids.

Several farmers who planted drought-tolerant varieties this year say they are satisfied with the results. In Elgin, Neb., Philip Starman says he plans to use Optimum AQUAmax again next year after testing it for several years. The corn appeared to endure better in the drought than his other corn. “It seems like it takes a lot more stress, it’s a lot more tolerant,” the 54-year-old says. “Put it this way: It’s probably the last to die.”

Tinkering With Genes
Both the DuPont Pioneer and Syngenta seeds were created with advanced versions of traditional breeding techniques. Now Monsanto is preparing to take things further with DroughtGard, the first corn genetically engineered for drought tolerance.

Enlarge Image

Close.This year, about 250 farmers in Plains states planted the corn in trials, and the seed is due to hit the market in 2013. Officials at Monsanto, which developed the seed with Germany’s BASF, say they are encouraged by the performance. Preliminary trial data, they say, show DroughtGard had yields about five bushels per acre higher than a competitor’s drought-tolerant hybrid in side-by-side comparisons.

Several years ago, when Monsanto first began talking publicly about its drought technology, company officials predicted it might improve corn yields by 6% to 10% over other hybrids. But a Monsanto spokeswoman says the company no longer makes such broad projections.

If the seed delivers good results, it could be a big step forward for the industry. Engineering corn that resists drought has proved a bigger challenge than, say, creating plants that can stand up to weeds or insects. A big part of the problem is that drought resistance involves many parts of the plant—which means thousands of genes need to be in the mix.

Some critics—and Monsanto’s competitors—think that the technology just isn’t ready yet and that for now the best answer lies in traditional breeding. Syngenta officials say they don’t plan to introduce a biotech drought-tolerant corn until sometime after 2015, while DuPont Pioneer doesn’t plan to roll one out until next decade.

“We have all been quite humbled in realizing how complex this is,” says Jeff Schussler, a senior research manager at DuPont Pioneer.