Monsanto Co. said on Wednesday that it will be eliminating 2,600 jobs as part of a cost-saving plan designed to deal with falling sales of its biotech seeds and herbicides fall in which pushed its quarterly losses even deeper.

The job cuts will reduce the company’s 22,500-employee workforce by about 12% over the next two years. As per the prediction made by the agricultural giant the move will generate between $275 million and $300 million in annual savings by the end of fiscal 2017.

The cost of the reorganization, which streamlines sales, research and development and other departments, is estimated at $850 million to $900 million.

Previously the St. Louis-based company eliminated around 900 jobs in 2009. Chief Executive Officer Hugh Grant said in a statement that negative impact of foreign exchange rates as well as falling crop prices that have squeezed farmers.

“Despite weakening global currencies and commodity prices we continue to view this as a time of opportunity”, Grant said.

Monsanto in past few quarters had to deal with falling corn prices in the United States, which resulted in reduced demand for its best-selling product: genetically-enhanced corn seeds.

It has been found that farmers are also shifting towards other crops due to a surplus of corn from last year's harvest. Monsanto's biotech seeds have genetically engineered traits that help farmers increase their crop yield, despite their higher costs.

The company posted a net loss of $1.06 per share, as compared with a net loss of $156 million, or 31 cents per share, a year ago.