BASF and COFCO Tunhe work together for sustainable tomato production in China

BASF and COFCO Tunhe, one of the world’s largest tomato producers and processors headquartered in Beijing, China, have entered a strategic cooperation to develop and enhance sustainable tomato cultivation in China. The main goal is to design a production system that addresses needs throughout the food value chain. The two companies have begun to analyze the challenges that local tomato growers face in China and to match these to the demands of end-consumer food producers in export markets.

Both companies have agreed to work together to help Chinese growers improve tomato quality, increase yield and manage cropping risk. BASF will rely on its experience in agricultural sustainability to deliver tailored, integrated solutions that combine crop protection technology, agricultural services and solutions for stress and resource management.

"The collaboration with a high-quality tomato producer such as COFCO Tunhe gives us the chance to deepen our sustainability expertise and codevelop first products from our newly established Functional Crop Care unit, which focuses on stress and resource management in crops. More importantly, these solutions will benefit local farmers and COFCO Tunhe in meeting end-consumer demands” says Cedric Dieleman, Project Leader in Global Marketing at BASF.

The cooperation will initially focus on tailored solutions with AgCelence benefits. AgCelence-brand products provide farmer benefits beyond regular crop protection by increasing the health and fitness of plants. Together with tomato farmers, BASF and COFCO Tunhe will conduct field trials in the Xinjiang province in China. AgCelence has already shown quality and sustainability improvements in tomato farming in several countries around the world. “Farmers in China and the tomato value chain world-wide will benefit from better plant growth, greater stress tolerance, improved tomato quality including higher sugar content and increased yields.” says Tracy Wu, Head of BASF Crop Protection in China.