Making new compounds for crop protection is no overnight process and we got to learn a little bit about how it is done during our visit to the BASF research facility in Limburgerhof, Germany last week.

Our first stop at the research facility was prescreening, where Dr. Franz Rohl explained some of the steps they take in looking at the potential for various compounds.

“The laboratory is the first place to test unknown chemicals for biological activity to find out if they have herbicide, fungicide or insecticidal activity that is of interest for our chemists,” said Rohl.

But Rohl says only one out of 140,000 of the compounds they test end up going on to the farm fields.

Listen my interview with Dr. Rohl here:
basf-rohl.mp3

View the Flickr Photo Album from BASF in Germany and Brussels