Monsanto creates precision agriculture scholarships

Author: Karen Brasher

Students prepare drone for flight (Photo by Kat Lawrence)

Five new scholarships established at Mississippi State University will benefit students enrolled in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences with an interest in precision agriculture.

The Monsanto Company established the $2,500 annual scholarships to encourage students in this emerging field.

Precision agriculture is site-specific crop management using a variety of computer aided systems including unmanned aircraft, global positioning systems, remote sensing, and geographic information systems.

The scholarships specifically benefit undergraduate and graduate students in good academic standing who are pursuing a degree in agricultural and biological engineering, agricultural economics, biochemistry, molecular biology, entomology and plant pathology, or plant and soil sciences.

Monsanto is an agriculture company based in St. Louis, Missouri. The Fortune 500 Company employs over 20,000 people. The investment in precision agriculture meets their corporate goal of developing future leaders who will advance sustainable agricultural practices that increases production.

The application deadline to apply for the scholarship is May 1. Current and prospective students interested in applying should contact Amanda Bell at abell@cals.msstate.edu or by phone at 662-325-8112.

Date: 2015-04-20