Bayer cultivating new ideas and answers in agriculture

Bayer CropScience will invest in further research and development (R&D) to support the agricultural industry in addressing evolving challenges. The company also emphasized its commitment to sustainable crop solutions and said it expects strong growth for its biologics business.

Speaking at the CropWorld Global Conference 2012 in London, Bayer CropScience’s Global Head for Research and Development Dr. C. David Nicholson noted that the company has one of the strongest pipelines of new products in the industry. "We are raising our overall R&D spending to more than EUR 850 million a year by 2015, and will increase our Seeds R&D budget to achieve a 50:50 ratio in R&D for Seeds / Biologics and Chemistry," he said. In the period 1995-2010, the company introduced 35 products in the crop protection arena.

At a different panel discussion, Marcus Meadows-Smith, Head of Biologics at Bayer CropScience, spoke about new technologies and the evolving role of biologics. "Today’s farmers face unique challenges, and increasingly seek solutions that span synthetic chemistry, molecular biology and biologics. At Bayer CropScience, we leverage our expertise and competency in these different technology platforms to lead in providing sustainable crop solutions," Meadows-Smith said. Demand for biologics - which are often effective in very small quantities - is growing, and the broader biologics market is expected to triple to almost USD 4 billion by 2020, he noted.