Research to Feed the Growing Global Population

Feeding the growing global population is one of the greatest challenges facing the world. By the year 2050, our planet will be home to more than nine billion people. However, the amount of available agricultural land is declining due to increasing urbanization, higher salinity levels and soil erosion. In addition, extreme weather conditions like drought and flooding are impacting harvest quantity and quality. Bayer is the third-largest innovative agricultural input company in the world and we aim to help make the agricultural economy more productive.

Some of our biggest priorities in research include increasing yields, improving traits and fine-tuning products. Visit the Bayer India site for more information. » more

The Crop Science Division maintains a global network of research and development facilities. While research is carried out centrally at a small number of sites, our development and plant breeding activities take place at numerous field testing stations across the globe. This ensures that future active substances and crop varieties can be tested according to specific regional and local requirements.

Bayer India is committed to strengthening its presence in Indian agriculture with investments in the following locations:

Mustard Breeding Station at Palwal, Haryana

Rick Turner, Global Market Head Wheat & Oilseeds, Joerg Rehbein, Head of Bayer CropScience, Indian Subcontinent and Satish Patil, Country Head – Seeds & Traits, inaugurate the MustardBreeding Station at Palwal on February 1, 2013

The focus of this station is on breeding and development of core germplasm for high performing Mustard Hybrids for both Indian and global markets. They work on the development of new varieties of Indian Mustard (Brassica juncea), which is closely related to Canola/Rapeseed (Brassica napus).

The breeding station is spread across ten acres of land and plays host to labs, an administrative building and plots for breeding development. Employees at the site work on developing key trait and breeding targets in the fields of yield assurance through herbicide tolerance; disease control; yield enhancement; seed shatter resistance and oil quality.

The research block has a state-of-the-art pathological laboratory with growth chambers to screen strains and hybrids for disease tolerance. The oil and meal quality laboratory facilitates in-house estimation of fatty acid profile of oil, oil content and protein composition of meal to serve specific nutritional benefits or industrial uses. The station also has seed cleaning and seed preparation laboratories, a cold room for germplasm storage and spare labs for future expansion activities, including doubled haploidy and molecular breeding.

Multi-Crop Breeding Station at Chandippa, Hyderabad

The Seeds unit of the Crop Science division of Bayer inaugurated its multi-crop breeding station in Chandippa, near Hyderabad.

Located at a distance of approximately 46 kilometers from Hyderabad, the focus of this modern facility is on breeding and development of core germplasm for high performing hybrids in Rice, Cotton & Millet.

Spread over 36 acres, the high-tech breeding station is equipped with all aspects of R&D infrastructure in the same location. These include - labs, open fields for trials, screenhouses and fully automated greenhouses built with international technology, which are being used to speed up breeding cycles. State-of-the-art laboratories support activities in resistance breeding, tissue culture and qualitative testing. The new facility also has a cultivable area of 25 acres for field experimentation.

A key highlight of the Chandippa breeding station is its rain water harvesting pond, which is a first of its kind facility in India and has been imported from the Netherlands. This fully automated system will harvest rain water, which will be filtered and utilized for cooling in the greenhouses.

The Vegetable Seeds unit of Bayer opens new R&D facility in Karnal, Haryana

New R&D Facility in Karnal, Haryana

The focus of this modern facility is on breeding activities, screening of diseases, evaluation & selection of breeding materials, inbred development and crossing in vegetable crops like cabbage, onion, tomato, hot peppers, cucumber, okra, water melon and gourds.

Spread over 8.5 acres, the high-tech breeding station is well equipped with all aspects of R&D infrastructure in the same location. These include - an administrative building, polyhouses, phyto pathology lab and plots for breeding. Seed cleaning and seed preparation laboratories, cold room for germplasm storage, adequate space for future expansion of activities are also in the plan. State-of-the-art laboratories will support activities in resistance breeding and disease screening. The new facility will also have a cultivable area of 5.0 acres for field experimentation and 2.0 acres for polyhouses.

The company’s other R&D facilities are in Bangalore and Kullu. Disease screening facilities and early hybrids evaluation are at Pune, Guntur, Kolkatta and Indore to cater to the needs of various market segments.

Research at Bayer Vapi

R&D Center at Bayer Vapi in Gujarat

Bayer Vapi Pvt. Ltd. is focusing on nurturing a high powered research and development facility. Since the manufacture of Synthetic Pyrethroids is multi-step, highly complex and well protected through various process patents, every facet of the R&D center has to be in line with internationally accepted standards. Bayer Vapi therefore focuses on the indigenous development of eco-friendly, innovative and internationally compliant quality agrochemicals. It has also achieved capabilities of commissioning manufacturing facilities, right from design to switch-on, through in-house know-how. Bayer Vapi has also successfully filed process patents for some products.

The significant contributions by the R&D center at Bayer Vapi have led to the availability of advanced and latest Synthetic Pyrethroids based insecticides at lower prices and enhancement in technological capacities. It is the first Indian company to bring new generation optically active Synthetic Pyrethroids in India. Bayer Vapi also has a pilot plant where the laboratory experiments are tested before they are implemented in the plants.

Acquisition of SeedWorks India Pvt. Ltd

The Crop Science division of Bayer AG responsible for the agricultural business, recently announced the signing of an agreement to acquire SeedWorks India Pvt. Ltd., based in Hyderabad. The company is specialized in breeding, production, and marketing of hybrid seeds of tomato, hot pepper, okra and gourds. Financial terms were not disclosed.

SeedWorks India was founded in 1998 and has research and seed processing locations in Bangalore and Hyderabad respectively. The company employs 180 full-time employees and markets its seed under the US Agriseeds™ brand to growers across India. In fiscal year 2013/2014, the company generated sales of INR 1,035million (EUR 12 million).

Closing of the acquisition is expected by beginning of July. Eventually, the operations of SeedWorks India will be integrated into the Bayer network, and existing and forthcoming varieties will be marketed under the company’s Nunhems™ brand.

Find global on research in agriculture at Bayer in our research scientific magazine:

» Point of view: Research, plant, harvest

» All-round talent for rice fields

» Canola: Strong seed pods

» Publication order

Company

Products & Innovation

Sustainable Crop Solutions