Washington D.C./New Delhi, India, October 8, 2010—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, honored India’s Jain Irrigation Systems Limited with the annual IFC Client Leadership Award, noting the company’s pioneering work to promote sustainable agriculture and raise farmers’ incomes through the efficient use of water, energy, and fertilizer.

At a ceremony in Washington, D.C., during Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, IFC Executive Vice President and CEO Lars Thunell presented the award to Jain Managing Director Anil Jain. The award recognizes IFC clients that share IFC’s commitment to socially and environmentally sustainable development and demonstrate innovation, operational excellence, and strong corporate governance.

“We in Jain feel deeply honored,” Anil Jain said. “The IFC Client Leadership Award recognizes our groundbreaking efforts in increasing agriculture productivity for small farmers and our vision of ‘leave this world better than you found it.’ IFC’s partnership as an investor and advisor is helping us sustain our efforts to broaden this endeavor across a large spectrum of small holders to enhance their incomes and to mitigate the environmental impact of agriculture.”

Jain introduced drip irrigation to India’s agriculture and has grown to become the world’s second-largest player in the micro-irrigation industry. The use of Jain’s drip-irrigation technology has resulted in water savings equal to the annual water consumption of more than 10 million households. In addition, it has tailored its business model to include the poor—creating a supply chain of 25,000 small farmers, 90 percent of whom work with less than one hectare of land. The use of drip irrigation has also led to efficiency gains that have raised annual incomes for small farmers by up to $1,000.

Thunell said: “Jain Irrigation Systems is a global competitor whose inclusive business model has helped raise incomes for thousands of small farmers, and developed innovative technologies that address the challenges of water conservation and sustainable agriculture. We are proud to be a partner to Jain in this work.”

Food production is the leading contributor to water scarcity, and it is most affected by scarcity. Agriculture accounts for 70 percent of fresh-water usage around the world. Finding ways to reduce the water footprint of food production is central to addressing water scarcity. Drip irrigation is part of a solution—its application leads to reductions of more than over 40 percent in water use, compared with traditional flood irrigation.

As water scarcity is expected to grow significantly in coming decades, IFC is playing a leading role in identifying and implementing solutions to the challenge—both through its work with client companies and through multistakeholder forums. IFC is an initiating sponsor of The 2030 Water Resource Group and is a founding partner of the Water Footprint Network, which has developed a methodology for private companies to assess their water footprint.

About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group is the largest development institution focused on the private sector in developing countries. We create opportunity for people to escape poverty and improve their lives—by providing financing to help businesses employ more people and provide essential services, mobilizing capital from others, and delivering advisory and risk-management services to ensure sustainable development. In a time of global economic uncertainty, our new investments climbed to a record $18 billion in fiscal 2010. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.

About Jain Irrigation Systems Limited
Jain Irrigation is pioneer company in water creation, sourcing, storage structures, water distribution, and water conservation devices like micro-irrigation systems. Jain also develops high-tech agri-inputs for farm productivity increases like high-quality planting materials, greenhouse cultivation, and improved cultivation practices such as ultra high-density plantations, sustainable agriculture, and agro-processing, providing end-to-end solutions to small holders. For more information, visit www.jains.com