BASF has just opened a new Research and Development center at their Crop Protection headquarters in Limburgerhof, Germany.  The new center offers research areas for biological crop protection and seed solutions, making it a hub of expertise for researchers and farmers world wide.

“Our investment in this expanded capacity is a step forward to unlocking the agricultural potential in seeds and crops in different and untapped ways”, said Philipp Rosendorfer, Vice President R&D Functional Crop Care for BASF’s Crop Protection division.

The research on biological solutions, which consists of naturally occurring organisms or extracts thereof, provides great opportunities to complement BASF’s chemical crop protection. Moreover, the combination between chemistry and biology generates a new range of pioneering solutions for seed treatment.

“With BASF’s unique skills in research and state-of-the art formulations, we are one of a few companies that can provide a seed treatment with a mixture of both biological and chemical compounds. This means farmers can have a well-protected and strengthened crop right from the beginning of its life,” concluded Rosendorfer.

The addition of this center will be a boost to R&D centers and trial centers in Brazil, Argentina, France, UK, South Africa, China, Australia, U.S., and Canada.  BASF is adding to its current portfolio of seed solutions and biological crop protection products with new biological insecticides and fungicides for foliar and seed applications, seed-applied chemical actives and seed enhancements.  The new center offers the opportunity for an advanced biological strain library, laboratories and facilities for screening and product application tests, a joint lab to combine BASF’s biological fermentation and chemical formulation know-how, and facilities to develop solutions enhancing application properties and handling of treated seeds.