Bayer CropScience plans to align its research even more closely with the needs of the “new agricultural economy.” “We expect a continuously growing demand for agricultural products, and in the future this demand will be driven not only by the production of food, feed and fiber but also by the use of biofuels", said Professor Friedrich Berschauer, Chairman of the Board of Management of Bayer CropScience AG, at the company’s Annual Press Conference in Monheim today (6th September).

Berschauer explained that limited agricultural land, the uninterrupted growth of the world's population and the impact of climate change are threatening the supply of agricultural products and are leading to shortage-driven prices for major agricultural commodities. He described this development as a “silent agricultural revolution.” Bayer CropScience expects the use of agricultural raw materials for the production of biofuels to increase considerably, and this will benefit both the seed market and the crop protection market. Professor Berschauer: “Innovation and constant technological progress are the only way to overcome this challenge."

Bayer CropScience plans to increase its annual research and development budget to some EUR 750 million by 2015 (2006: EUR 614 million). The company’s research effort is focused on promising areas such as new modes of action in crop protection, improved plant health as well as optimized plant characteristics and new agronomic traits. It is also increasing its emphasis on aspects such as herbicide tolerance, insect resistance and increased yields. Bayer CropScience is additionally working on new biotechnological approaches to making plants more resistant to a number of stress factors such as heat, drought, cold and soil salinity. The first products from this stress tolerance research program are expected to reach the market in 2015.

“We are convinced that we can only keep pace with the future requirements of the new agricultural economy if we use all the options available for safeguarding harvests and increasing yields”, Berschauer emphasized. “The increase in productivity which we will need to achieve in agriculture in the coming years will only be possible with modern crop protection and the new approaches offered by plant breeding and plant biotechnology.”