Bayer CropScience unveils R&D investment plans

Bayer CropScience has announced plans to invest 3.4 billion euros (2.72 billion pounds) in research and development (R&D) through to 2012 after announcing "outstanding" business development in the first half of the year.

The company said the programme will look to develop new and innovative crop protection products, as well as biotechnology applications for seeds and plants, over a four year period.

It added that the R&D drive will also compliment and support its existing target of achieving two billion euros worth of sales for its active ingredients launched since 2000. Bayer currently forecasts that it will reach this goal in 2009 – two years ahead of schedule.

Professor Friedrich Berschauer, chairman of Bayer CropScience’s board of management, said the research is needed as food production and arable land are currently in decline while the global population continues to grow.

"We need intensive agricultural research if we are to meet the challenges associated with producing food and making the best possible use of the agricultural resources available to us," he commented.

Bayer CropScience is a UK-based crop protection firm that is part of the global Bayer AG group based in Leverkusen, Germany.