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BASF’s Agricultural Research Station at Pune to focus on global agri R&D
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Our Bureau, Bengaluru
May 29 , 2015
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BASF has opened an Agricultural Research Station at Lonikand, Pune.
The
new research and development centre will focus on global agricultural
research on herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides, as well as on
solutions that go beyond classical crop protection. The facility will
employ directly and indirectly 30 people, including biologists, farm
managers, and workers.
In addition to conducting research in
areas of global agricultural interest, the R&D centre will
investigate scenarios that are unique to India. These include challenges
such as India-specific weeds and pests, as well as climate stresses,
like drought, flood cycles, and heat stress. Through its extensive
research efforts, the R&D centre aims to help farmers make better
decisions and improve productivity during the entire cultivation cycle.
“Raising
agriculture productivity to meet the increasing demand for quality and
quantity of food is one of the most important challenges facing our
country. By setting up a new R&D centre in India, BASF aims to
actively look into both local and global topics and develop effective
and sustainable solutions to help farmers to solve their challenges and
improve food output to feed the growing population in India,” said Raman
Ramachandran, CMD, BASF India Ltd and head, BASF South Asia.
Pune
has been chosen as the site for the research centre because of its
ideal location in the southern Indian climate zone. The close proximity
to local universities and research institutions makes it possible to
generate synergies and promote collaboration in order to build a strong
ecosystem that can further boost the agricultural sector.
The
centre will contribute to tailormade solutions for India’s agriculture
while moving towards BASF’s strategic goal to innovate from
Asia-Pacific, for Asia-Pacific and the world. “Our role is to partner
with farmers and to work with them to protect the land they hold in
trust for future generations and to meet the evolving expectations of
society. The team in India will contribute to these goals by driving the
development of new active ingredients, new formulations, and
technologies,” said Markus Heldt, president, BASF’s Crop Protection
Division.
In 2014, BASF announced breaking ground of its
Innovation Campus in Mumbai via BASF Chemicals India Pvt. Ltd, a 100%
subsidiary of BASF SE, which will also do research in the area of crop
protection with Indian talents and local expertise. Both the Innovation
Campus and the new Agricultural Research Station are integral components
of BASF’ global innovation network. The two R&D facilities will
share intelligence and research findings, and generate synergies while
developing new crop protection solutions.
With agricultural
research stations in different parts of the world, BASF can conduct
trials all year, under different climatic and agricultural conditions in
order to get a better understanding of how its products perform in the
field. Pune will become BASF’s fifth agricultural research station, in
addition to those already in Brazil, the US, Spain, Germany, and the
Philippines. In total, BASF spends more than €500 million annually on
global agricultural R&D showing its commitment to bring sustainable
solutions to the agricultural market.
With sales of more than
€5.4 billion in 2014, BASF’s Crop Protection Division provides
innovative solutions in crop protection, seed treatment and biological
control as well as innovations to manage nutrients and plant stress.
BASF
India has 2,186 employees at about 20 production sites & sales
offices, as well as R&D centres in Mumbai and Mangalore. In 2014,
BASF registered sales of €1.1 billion to customers in India.
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