A new BASF research station in Pune, India will focus on the areas of herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, and other solutions beyond crop protection products.  Experts in biology, farm managements, and workers have been hired for the new facitlity.

The center will research ares of global interest for the agriculture community, but it will also investigate issues specific to India, such as specific weeks, pests, and climate stresses.  The hope is to aid farmers in making decisions and improve production of the entire cultivation cycle.

“Raising agriculture productivity to meet the increasing demand for quality and quantity of food, is one of the most important challenges facing our country. By setting up a new R&D center in India, BASF aims to actively look into both local and global topics and develop sustainable solutions to help farmers to solve their challenges and improve food output to feed the growing population in India,” said Raman Ramachandran, Chairman and Managing Director, BASF India Ltd. and Head of BASF South Asia.

The center will contribute to tailor-made solutions for India’s agriculture while moving towards BASF’s strategic goal to innovate from Asia Pacific, for Asia Pacific and the world. “Our role is to partner with farmers and to work with them to protect the land they hold in trust for future generations and to meet the evolving expectations of society. The team in India will contribute to these goals by driving the development of new active ingredients, new formulations, and technologies,” said Markus Heldt, President of BASF’s Crop Protection Division.

With agricultural research stations in different parts of the world, BASF can conduct trials all year around, under different climate and agricultural conditions in order to get a better understanding of how its products perform in the field. Pune will become BASF’s fifth Agricultural Research Station, in addition to those already in Brazil, Spain, Germany, and the Philippines. In total, BASF spends more than €500 million annually on global agricultural R&D showing its commitment to bring sustainable solutions to the agricultural market.