OREANDA-NEWS. BASF is raising the long-term sales target for its Crop Protection division and now expects it to achieve sales of more than 6 billion euro by 2015 and 8 billion euro by 2020 (previously: 6 billion euro in 2020). To support this, BASF will invest approximately 1.8 billion euro to build and upgrade production and formulation capacities between 2013 and 2017. BASF will also continue to expand its portfolio of solutions and increase initiatives that support growers with their overall farm management.

"We have made great progress over the past years. We have demonstrated sustainable growth in our sales and earnings and are confident we will continue with this development," said Markus Heldt, President of BASF's Crop Protection division. "This success stems from our commitment to providing innovations that address the importance of having sufficient and high quality food for a growing population. We continue to expand our portfolio, for and beyond crop protection products, to deliver integrated technologies that can help growers run their business more efficiently."

Increased investments in innovative solutions
For the period from 2013 to 2017, BASF will double annual investments in production plants for its Crop Protection division from approximately €150 million to more than 300 million euro. Amongst others, this figure covers plans to expand production capacities for the blockbuster fungicides F500(r) and Xemium(r) in Germany as well as for key herbicides dicamba and Kixor(r), which are produced in the United States. BASF is also planning to build new or expand existing formulation plants at several sites around the world, with strong emphasis on Asia.

The total peak sales potential for BASF's crop protection pipeline - represented by products launched between 2010 and 2020 - is now estimated at 1.7 billion euro, 500 million euro more compared to the previous year. The pipeline's value is largely supported by successful product launches in all indications. A significant contribution is expected from Xemium and promising novel herbicides and herbicide tolerant solutions, along with products from the fields in Functional Crop Care. To reach its targets, BASF will maintain its commitment to investing around 9% of the Crop Protection division's sales into R&D activities, targeted towards developing new active ingredients, formulations and solutions beyond crop protection.

Portfolio expansion through Functional Crop Care
Functional Crop Care, BASF's newly-established global unit for solutions beyond the boundaries of traditional crop protection products, will greatly expand BASF's portfolio of solutions for growers. Through the completed structural integration of U.S.-based company Becker Underwood, BASF has become a leading global provider of seed solutions offers, including biological ones, and can further help growers to improve and increase their production.

"With BASF's research capabilities and innovative product portfolio, Functional Crop Care is uniquely set up to harness the progress achieved through our interdisciplinary chemistry and biology research," said Jurgen Huff, Senior Vice President Functional Crop Care. "This will help us to unlock agricultural potential in new areas such as soil management, where we look for products to enhance water and nutrient management in the soil."

In addition to seed enhancement products and innovations for better soil management, Functional Crop Care will also deliver technologies to help plants better manage stress factors such as heat, cold, nutrient deficiency and, thus strengthen their health. By building up the well-established AgCelence(r) portfolio, BASF will further enable growers to improve the overall quality and productivity of their crops, resulting in higher yields, higher quality and harvest efficiency.

Expanding grower engagement initiatives
Another key driver of BASF's business will remain its grower engagement initiatives, which focus on three key areas: customized agronomic advice, risk mitigation services and global farming networks. For the diverse European market, BASF has developed a number of solutions and services to enable the rapid transfer of technology and expertise across markets. One example is BASF's biodiversity farm network, where the company actively cooperates with professional farm managers and independent experts to demonstrate how modern agriculture can go hand-in-hand with measures to support local wildlife and plant species.

"We will continue to expand these initiatives, develop additional ones and also cultivate strategic partnerships with leading companies in agriculture," said Vincent Gros, Senior Vice President, BASF Crop Protection Europe, CIS, Central Asia, Africa and Middle East. "By providing growers with solutions tailored to their local needs, we can best support them increase crop quality and yield, while reducing production risks."