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HomePosts Tagged "Bayer" (Page 2)
Agri Genomics, Agribiotechnology, Agribusiness, Company News, Seeds, World

The collaboration leverages G+FLAS’ genome editing technology and Bayer’s proprietary tomato germplasm.

As part of its strategic open innovation approach global life science company Bayer has advanced two initiatives with external partners to bring forward genome editing in vegetables. Bayer and South-Korean biotech company G+FLAS have entered into an agreement to collaborate on developing genome-edited tomato varieties that are nutritionally enhanced with vitamin D3. Vitamin D deficiency is a widespread issue globally, particularly in countries where winter sunlight is limited. It affects an estimated billion people worldwide and can lead to a range of health issues including rickets.

The collaboration leverages G+FLAS’ genome editing technology and Bayer’s proprietary tomato germplasm,” said JD Rossouw, Head of Vegetables Research & Development at Bayer during the World Seed Congress in Rotterdam where the industry gathers from May 27-29.

Part of the agreement is also the ambition to develop seeds for a broader variety of tomato products using genome editing. The technique allows to make changes to a plant’s genome that could also occur in nature or through conventional breeding, but in a more precise and faster way. “Modern breeding technologies, such as genome editing, can provide health benefits and resilience to a changing climate. It is an important new technology in a breeder’s toolbox, and we anticipate it being a part of our pipeline moving forward,” said JD Rossouw.

“Bayer is deeply attuned to what consumers are seeking: Foods that are not only rich in nutrients but also delightful in taste. Our commitment is to deliver on these expectations, which, in turn, provides significant benefits throughout the value chain and enhances the competitiveness of our growers,” stated Ruth Mathieson, Global Head of Strategic Marketing at Bayer Vegetable Seeds. “We are keenly aware of the widespread issue of nutritional deficiencies in diets today. Actively working to bridge this nutritional gap is a driving force behind our growth and innovation strategy.”

The collaboration leverages G+FLAS’ genome editing technology

Agro Universities, Agrotech, Company News, India

The partnership aims to provide farmers agronomic solutions, crop protection, mechanization for Direct Seeded Rice, and precision tools for water-positive practices.

Indian Council of Agricultural Research and Bayer, a Global enterprise with core life science and agriculture competencies, have recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the technological advancement of farmers through Krishi Vigyan Kendras. The partnership aims to improve farmers’ livelihoods by providing them with agronomic solutions, crop protection, mechanization for Direct Seeded Rice, and precision tools for water-positive practices. The workshop was organized by ICAR-KVK, Karnal, at the ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal under the Chairmanship of Dr. U.S. Gautam, Deputy Director General, (Agricultural Extension) Divison of Agricultural Extension (ICAR). Dr. Gautam spoke about reimagining the rice cropping in view of the renewed focus on reducing water and carbon footprint in agriculture under Vikshit Bharat initiatives. He further stated that the ICAR-Bayer collaboration is a unique Public-Private-Peasant-Participation (P-P-P-P) initiative that allows ICAR-KVKs and farmers to select and practice the most productive varieties and technologies, aiming to synergize efforts, scale adoption, and ensure sustainable food production for the future.

Dr Dheer Singh, Director ICAR-NDRI Karnal, Dr. R. R. Burman, Assistant Director General (Agricultural Extension) ICAR, Dr. J. P. Mishra, Director, ICAR-ATARI Zone-II, Jodhpur, Dr Parvender Sheoran, Director, ICAR-ATARI Zone-I, Dr. Sangeeta Dawar, Lead Govt Affairs, Bayer, Dr. Ajeet Chahal, Rice Platform Lead, Bayer, and Simon Wiebusch, President, Bayer South Asia along with their team of expert, were also present during the workshop.

The ICAR-KVKs will provide farmers with on-ground assistance for sustainable agriculture and mechanization solutions, aiming to increase their knowledge and awareness of sustainable practices. By enabling them to join carbon credit markets, they can create more income streams and contribute to environmental conservation efforts. The DSR demonstrations will be organized at 46 KVKs spread across 8 States viz., Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Maharashtra during Kharif 2024.

The partnership aims to provide farmers agronomic

Company News, People

Jonathan Margolis has held senior R&D positions in prominent agricultural biotechnology companies

BioPrime Agrisolutions, a leading ag-biotech company announces the appointment of Jonathan Margolis as Scientific Advisor. With over two decades of experience in agricultural biotechnology, Jonathan brings a wealth of scientific expertise and strategic insight to the BioPrime team.

Jonathan Margolis has held senior R&D positions in prominent agricultural biotechnology companies, demonstrating his exceptional leadership and contribution to the industry. Most recently, he served as the Chief Scientific Officer at Joyn Bio for four years, where he played a pivotal role in advancing the company’s scientific initiatives and driving innovation in agricultural biotechnology.

Before his tenure at Joyn Bio, Jonathan spent six years as the Head of Research Technologies, Biologics, at Bayer Crop Science Division. During his time at Bayer, he spearheaded research and development efforts, contributing to the development of cutting-edge technologies and products aimed at enhancing crop protection and agricultural sustainability.

Before his tenure at Bayer, Jonathan held the position of Senior Vice President, of R&D at AgraQuest, Inc., where he made significant contributions to the development of some of the most successful biologicals used in the market today. His expertise and leadership were instrumental in shaping the company’s research and development strategies, leading to groundbreaking innovations in agricultural biotechnology.

Jonathan Margolis has held senior R&D positions

Agrotech, Collaborations, Company News, Digital Technologies, India, Inputs, Supply Chain

The partnership will support farmers in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala in the first phase of execution.

 Bayer, a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of healthcare and agriculture, announced its partnership with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY)’s Common Service Center (CSC-SPV), a strategic cornerstone of the National e-governance plan which aims to usher rural India into a digitally empowered era and foster a knowledge-based economy. The strategic collaboration aims to provide Indian farmers with access to quality agri-inputs through digital capability building and strengthen rural livelihoods and farm incomes. The partnership will support farmers in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala in the first phase of execution. Besides access to the entire range of Bayer’s agri-solutions from seed to harvest, farmers can also avail of crop-specific agronomic advisory through CSC’s online platform.

As part of the MoU, Smallholder farmers will be able to access timely crop advisory, transfer of good agricultural practices and access to premium Bayer products through CSC’s online portal. Gram Unnati will facilitate farmer mobilization and ensure market linkages. Together, Bayer and CSC-SPV aim to empower over 500,000 (0.5 million) smallholder farmers over the next two years. To facilitate easy access to quality inputs, agronomic support, and encourage agri-technology knowledge transfer based on the latest practices, Bayer will also nurture agri-entrepreneurs by leveraging village-level entrepreneurs of CSCs from within the local communities. The newly announced partnership follows an ongoing pilot engagement project running between Better Life Farming centres and CSC in Jharkhand’s Lohardega district since late 2020.

Simon-Thorsten Wiebusch, President, Bayer South Asia said, “Smallholder farmers are vital in ensuring food and nutritional security in the country and Bayer is dedicated to empowering them through the expansion of access to essential agricultural inputs and expert agronomic guidance, driven by digital innovation and collectivization. Our association with the Government of India’s Common Service Center and Gram Unnati will help bring us closer to our shared goal of empowering farmers as we bridge the gap to remote farming communities, promote financial literacy and foster an entrepreneurial spirit leading to optimized resource utilization, and maximizing farm potential to enhance their livelihoods sustainably.”

Sanjay Rakesh, MD & CEO, CSC-SPV said, “We are excited to collaborate with Bayer and strengthen our e-commerce platform to scale support to smallholder farmers through our technology-powered ecosystem. By leveraging our synergies with Bayer Crop Science Limited, we envision sustained enhancements in rural agriculture within the identified centres. This partnership will enable last mile access to tailored solutions, to better support the rural community and agri-entrepreneurs.”

Aneesh Jain, Founder & CEO, Gram Unnati said: “We are extremely delighted to work with Bayer CropScience and CSC e-Governance to play the role of a key facilitator in this ground-breaking association. We are already developing a system with CSC e-Governance to enable farmers to sell their end produce through the VLE network. This collaboration will enable farmers to get timely access to high quality agri inputs, thus further improving their crop quality and yields too.”

The CSC scheme, a collaborative e-governance platform, is part of the Digital India programme. The Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) aims to facilitate the delivery of government, private and social sector services to Indian citizens through the CSC network. It supports linkages, connecting villages in India through high-speed internet and scaling the delivery of products & services to reach the last mile.

The partnership will support farmers in Telangana,

Agbiologicals, Agribusiness, Collaborations, Company News, World

Via new agreement with AlphaBio Control, Bayer gains exclusive rights to market the first ever biological insecticide which will help farmers control pests in arable crops.

Bayer announced today that it has signed an agreement with UK-based company AlphaBio Control to secure an exclusive license for a new biological insecticide. The new product will be the first available for arable crops, including oilseed rape and cereals. Targeted for initial launch in 2028 pending further development and registration, this new insecticide was discovered by AlphaBio, with whom Bayer distributes FLiPPER® an award-winning bioinsecticide-acaricide.

“Farmers need innovative new solutions as they seek to continue to feed a growing population, overcome the impacts of climate change, and meet enhanced safety and sustainability standards,” said Benoit Hartmann, Head of Biologics at Bayer’s Crop Science Division. “Biocontrols are a perfect fit to our approach to scaling regenerative agriculture, and we’re excited to work to bring a new biological crop protection option to farmers that can be used for arable crops.”

The new bioinsecticide has potential for use against coleoptera insects like the cabbage stem flea beetle (CSFB), a pest insect that can damage oilseed rape crops throughout the growing season and even cause seedling death. The beetle is widespread in the United Kingdom and throughout much of Europe, and damage caused by adult CSFB feeding gives rise to ‘shot-holing’ symptoms which affect young plants and early leaves, resulting in stunted growth and poor plant health.

“We are delighted to license Bayer exclusive rights to our latest bioinsecticide which will significantly improve the choices available to arable farmers wishing to reduce the environmental impact of food production,” said Marta Ruiz, General Manager for AlphaBio Control.”

While many biological options are available for high-value vegetable and horticulture crops, where their cost can be offset by consumer-supported price premiums, arable crops require solutions that can be applied cost-effectively at larger scale in order to be competitive. Bayer’s systems approach, which combines various solutions, will help to maximize the cost efficiencies of this new product by including it in a digitally-supported integrated pest management system.

“With increasingly strong demand from farmers and changing consumer preferences, we see major growth potential for biological crop protections like this one,” said Ralf Glaubitz, Head of Global Asset Management for Seed Growth & Biologics at Bayer’s Crop Science Division. “We’re working to outgrow the market and achieve more than 1.5 billion euro in biological sales by 2035. That’s only going to happen if we innovate to solve the challenges that farmers face in all fields.”

The as-yet-unnamed biological insecticide will also be a supporting part of Bayer’s commitment to help reduce the environmental impact of crop protection products by 30 percent by 2030 without negatively impacting crop yields and health.

Via new agreement with AlphaBio Control, Bayer

Agribusiness, Carbon Farming, Company News, Environment, Europe

By 2025, Bayer expects to significantly increase the number of food and ag value chain projects and the number of participating farmers.

Bayer announced a partnership with UK-headquartered company Trinity Agtech. As part of Bayer’s efforts to drive regenerative agriculture, Trinity Agtech’s platform Sandy will be instrumental for Bayer’s Carbon Initiative in the region EMEA in measuring and monitoring carbon on a farm level. Furthermore, the cooperation will enable the customized development of Bayer’s solutions to value chain players needs and growers based on Trinity’s capabilities. Leveraging science, digital and agronomical strengths on both ends the result is a unique regenerative agriculture ecosystem, developing high quality assets for a market that needs to be committed to tangible and credible outcomes.

The European Carbon Initiative is vital to Bayer’s overall strategy to shape regenerative agriculture. This includes making agriculture more productive and resilient while restoring natural resources. Started off in 2021, the Carbon Initiative now includes multiple tailored projects with large companies from the food supply and agricultural value chain. Today, farmers across several European countries and companies across the Food and Farming supply chain are working alongside with these partners to reduce carbon emissions and sequester carbon in the soil. Project results show that growers that are using regenerative practices are emitting on average 15 percent less carbon than conventional farmers. By 2025, Bayer expects to significantly increase the number of food and ag value chain projects and the number of farmers participating in value chain programs as the European Carbon Initiative is going to switch from pilot phase to scale-up phase for commercial projects.

To support these goals, reliable monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) is key for all players of the food value chain to be compliant with third parties, global guidelines, certification bodies and regulatory requirements. With Sandy, Trinity Agtech has developed a new generation, trusted and easy-to-use cloud-based platform where farmers and project developers will bring all their data into one place to create a fact-based and primary data driven register of a farm’s natural capital. This allows the farmer to assess the farm’s carbon balance and options going forward.

“Our collaboration with Trinity offers many benefits for farmers and for our partners in the food value chain that want to deliver against their carbon reduction commitments and want to support regenerative practices in agriculture,” said Lionnel Alexandre, Carbon Business Venture Lead for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Bayer’s Crop Science Division. “We need reliable measuring technology and data analysis to verify carbon reductions and carbon sequestration on the farms. Trinity contributes with its state-of-the-art platform that is acknowledged by many experts around the globe.”

Working with internationally approved models to ensure accuracy

Trinity’s models and analytical frameworks are nationally and internationally compliant with the IPCC standards and other key global guidelines, such as the GHG-P, in addition to previous verification against ISO 14.064 and 14.067 methodologies. Trinity Agtech’s distinctive scientific board contains leading international experts to ensure the most accurate possible assessment for the farmer with the available data. A recent study commissioned by the UK Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) across 81 carbon calculators has placed Trinity’s software Sandy on the first rank in assessing farm carbon footprints and natural capital.

“We’re proud of Bayer’s commitment to credible and trusted sustainability analytics and their power in advancing the prosperity and environmental progress of the Food and Farming supply chain. Trinity is delighted to be Bayer’s analytical partner of choice in this vital program,” said Dr Hosein Khajeh-Hosseiny, Founder and Executive Chairman at Trinity.

By 2025, Bayer expects to significantly increase

Agrotech, Company News, Digital Technologies, R&D, World

Expert generative AI system has been trained by Bayer agronomists and proprietary data to benefit farmers, agronomic advisors, and other industry users.

Bayer announced the pilot of an expert GenAI system to benefit farmers and up-level agronomists in their daily work. The company has been using proprietary agronomic data to train a Large Language Model (LLM) with years of internal data, insights from thousands of trials within its vast testing network, and centuries of aggregated experience from Bayer agronomists around the world.

The result is an expert system that quickly and accurately answers questions related to agronomy, farm management, and Bayer agricultural products. Instead of a time-consuming process, the intuitive system responds to natural language and can generate expert information within seconds. Validated by agronomists, the pilot is already unlocking productivity for Bayer teams in the United States while significantly outperforming out-of-the-box LLMs currently serving the agricultural market.

The future benefit in comparison to today’s reality: A farmer asks their agronomic advisor a series of detailed questions about a product’s characteristics, performance under specific conditions, and application rates. Today, the advisor searches online materials, sends text messages to colleagues, gathers information from multiple sources, and puts together a response, all while the farmer waits hours or days for urgently needed information. Bayer’s expert GenAI system is changing the game, making better information more quickly and readily available.

“Our unique GenAI system has the potential to serve agronomists and benefit farmers all over the world, further advancing AI as an indispensable technology for agriculture,” said Amanda McClerren, CIO and Head of Digital Transformation & Information Technology for Bayer’s Crop Science Division. “We’ll continue to use traditional AI to develop better products, and we’re also committed to harnessing new GenAI technology in a thoughtful way that augments and supports knowledgeable experts across the industry, bringing value to farmers and those who serve them.”

Developed in collaboration with Microsoft as leading technology partner and Ernst & Young (EY) as an industry partner, Bayer is exploring ways to integrate the expert GenAI system into its digital offerings, and the company anticipates broad opportunities for collaboration with other agricultural offerings and partners. Designed as a global capability, the tool will benefit millions of smallholder farmers in the future by democratizing access to agronomic advice and product information critical to feeding communities and improving global food security.

“AI and automation are helping farms of all sizes produce more while using fewer natural resources, and we’re starting to see how they can enhance decision-making on almost any plot of land,” said Ranveer Chandra, Managing Director, Research for Industry & CTO, Agri-Food at Microsoft. “With Bayer’s strengths in data science, digital, and especially agronomic expertise, we’re pleased to be contributing to an expert system that will make agronomic understanding more accessible and empower those responsible for feeding the planet.”

Bayer aims to expand the pilot of the expert GenAI system to selected agronomists and potentially farmers as early as this year, while continuing to advance a separate GenAI prototype allowing users to directly query their own farm data. Because they also pull insights from closed data sets, these GenAI tools are unique for agriculture and will bring more meaningful value to farmers, agronomists and other industry users, compared to out-of-the-box LLMs that only use open-source data.

Expert generative AI system has been trained

Agro Universities, Company News, India

‘Better School Program’ aims to promote STEM learning and innovation in rural schools.

Bayer, a global life sciences company with core strengths in agriculture and healthcare, announced its collaboration with BharatCares, a social impact organization, to launch the ‘Better School Program’ at Adpodra Group Government Primary School in Himatnagar, Gujarat. Aimed at enhancing educational facilities and enabling experiential learning opportunities for the students in Himatnagar, the ‘Better School Program’ focuses on providing a foundational leap to economically challenged students and will benefit more than 850 students from grades 1st to 8th, across four schools.

Through this initiative, Bayer and BharatCares will provide a STEM Lab, Smart Classroom, indoor play kits, computer labs, better sports facilities as well as equip the schools with solar panels for better power supply. The program will empower students with modern teaching methodologies and resources to foster innovative learning and skills. The Better School Program was launched in the presence of government officials, Simon Britsch, Chief Financial Officer, Bayer South Asia and Bhomik Shah, Founder and CEO, BharatCares.

Commenting on the launch, Simon Britsch, Chief Financial Officer, Bayer South Asia, said “Children are the future of the world, and it is our collective responsibility to equip them with the right resources to seek knowledge, thrive and innovate. Through the ‘Better School Program’ we are supporting students in government run schools to explore the field of LifeSciences, through well-equipped STEM labs, modern teaching methods and improved infrastructure. At Bayer, we remain committed to supporting education, research, and innovation, and providing inclusive opportunities for all sections of society.”

The program is also being implemented at the Mankadi Colony Primary School, Sardarpura Primary School and Vantada Primary School. With an aim to standardize education and STEM facilities at these schools, the collaborative project will also establish modular libraries which will boast a diverse collection of grade-appropriate books and learning aids to implore hands-on training and exploration. Interactive digital learning tools, through Smart classes will also be provided.

Bhomik Shah, Founder and CEO, BharatCares, said “The Better School initiative in collaboration with Bayer, breathes new life into primary government schools. By providing essential facilities, we are not just enhancing infrastructure but nurturing the potential of students to make them future-ready. As we move forward, BharatCares is excited to partner with Bayer, ensuring that together, we continue to uplift the educational landscape, one school at a time.”

The Better School Program is also aligned with Bayer’s commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship, with the installation of solar panels to enable the schools to adopt clean and renewable energy sources.

‘Better School Program’ aims to promote STEM

Agrotech, Company News, Digital Technologies, India

Data connectors for OEMs to further improve farmer and industry connectivity

Sonata Software, a leader in Modernisation Engineering, announced its collaboration with Bayer, one of the Top 150 Global 2000 companies with business interest in pharmaceuticals, consumer healthcare products, agricultural chemicals, seeds and biotechnology products. As part of the partnership, Sonata will allow Bayer to develop new AgPowered Services for Microsoft Azure Data Manager for Agriculture that enable retrieval and integration of in-field activity data by working with leading manufacturers of farm machinery.

According to a recent announcement from Bayer, one of agriculture’s biggest technology challenges is a lack of data interoperability. Farmers have seen advancements in the ability to connect data between on-farm systems, but solutions allowing them to connect to services and opportunities beyond the farm have been largely unavailable. Companies and organizations supporting agriculture and related industries have also lacked the infrastructure and capabilities needed to best serve their customers.

This initiative will enable Enterprise users of Microsoft Azure Data Manager for Agriculture to have an integrated, one-stop solution to connect key data sources for farm machinery data in the industry, thus bringing down the cost of technical investment that companies are facing today.

Furthermore, organizations can rely on the same system to connect to additional data sources, such as in-field sensors, and weather and satellite imagery, and incorporate data-driven insights and recommendations from the suite of AgPowered Services into their customer-facing solutions. Azure Data Manager for Agriculture provides B2B customers a ‘one-stop shop’ to connect to farm machinery data, weather, imagery, and insights from AgPowered Services.

Data connectors for OEMs to further improve

Agrotech, Collaborations, Company News, Middle East countries

The partnership will focus on implementing best-in-class agricultural practices, capacity building programs as well as undertaking comprehensive vegetable seed trials.

 Silal and Bayer a global leader in life sciences with a strong focus on healthcare and nutrition, have joined forces in a pioneering collaboration set to strengthen the agricultural landscape in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), addressing climate change as a pivotal concern.

The partnership was announced during a signage ceremony of a Collaboration Agreement during the World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit in Dubai on December 4th, 2023, in attendance of key private and public sector stakeholders.

This strategic partnership represents a significant milestone in the journey towards advancing best-in-class agricultural practices, especially under the challenging climatic conditions of the UAE, which are only expected to intensify due to the ongoing threat of climate change. Recognizing the vital role of agriculture in mitigating climate change and enhancing resilience, Silal and Bayer are steadfast in their commitment to bolster the agricultural sector in the battle against global warming.

 Together, Silal and Bayer will partner to enhance the capabilities of local agronomists, fostering an environment conducive to agricultural innovation and excellence, leveraging Bayer’s BayG.A.P. capacity building programa. The program encompasses modules on essential topics such as Integrated Pest Management, Safe Use, Crop Protection Products, Application Technology, and Irrigation. The implementation of the program foresees to follow a train-the-trainer approach. In the first step, agricultural engineers and farm managers will be trained. In the second stage, these trainers will then extend the capacity building efforts to potentially reach over 300 growers in the UAE, who are part of Silal’s network.

Another pivotal aspect of this partnership will be the undertaking of comprehensive vegetable seed trials. These trials will encompass a wide array of tomato, cucumber and melon seed varieties, each meticulously tested in diverse open field and mid-tech greenhouse setups. Further, these trials will embody a range of over 30 vegetable seeds varieties and aim to investigate how these varieties perform under challenging desert farming conditions, assessing their increased crop endurance, quality, and shelf-life characteristics. The research and data collected from these trials will not only benefit agricultural practices in the UAE but will also play a crucial role in informing agricultural practices in regions worldwide grappling with the challenges posed by climate change, especially rising temperatures in combination with high levels of humidity, also known as wet-bulb temperatures.

Furthermore, this collaboration with Silal is firmly aligned with Bayer’s overarching mission of “Health for All, Hunger for None.” It exemplifies the company’s dedication to addressing the critical challenges of our time by promoting sustainable agriculture and food production, ensuring that no one goes hungry while safeguarding the health and well-being of all.

 Salmeen Al Ameri, CEO at Silal, expressed enthusiasm about the partnership, saying, “This collaboration between Silal and Bayer holds immense promise for the future of agriculture in the UAE. By leveraging Bayer’s global expertise and our local knowledge, we aim to develop innovative solutions that will bolster the sustainability of our agricultural practices, against the climate change challenges.”

 Hugo Hagen, Senior Bayer Representative – Middle East at Bayer, echoed this sentiment, stating, “We are excited to embark on this journey with Silal, a partner that shares our vision for a world where hunger is eradicated, and health prevails. Together, we will harness the power of innovation to support transforming agriculture in the UAE and contribute to the country’s National Food Security Strategy 2051, all while addressing the urgent global challenge of climate change.”

Dr. Shamal Mohammed, Head of AgriTech at Silal added: “This collaboration reflects our commitment to strengthening the UAE’s AgriTech innovation landscape. Our partnership with Bayer will significantly contribute to our Innovation Oasis, and together, we are well-positioned to drive positive change in the agriculture sector.”

 Sami Joost, Global Communications Director International Relations & License to Operate – Crop Science and Open Innovation Lead – United Arab Emirates at Bayer, underlined: “At Bayer, we have leading research and development capabilities in plant breeding, biotechnology, chemistry, and data science, allowing us to deliver tailored solutions to farmers faster than ever before. Collaboration with external partners and complementing our in-house expertise with the know-how of excellent partners such as Silalis an integral part of driving innovation impact at Bayer.”

The partnership will focus on implementing best-in-class

Agrotech, Company News, Europe, IT

Industry platform Microsoft Azure Data Manager expands as more companies bring solutions: Leaf Agriculture further enhances useability of farm machinery data.

 Bayer has announced at Agritechnica, the world’s leading trade fair for agricultural machinery, an update on the strategic collaboration with Microsoft: New data connectors allow secure, compliant exchange of farm data between Bayer’s flagship digital farming product Climate FieldView™ and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) through the industry platform Microsoft Azure Data Manager for Agriculture. Following the preview launch of Bayer AgPowered Services on the platform earlier this year, Leaf Agriculture is now bringing a solution to further enhance accessibility of farm machinery data, and OneSoil is delivering new solutions for in-season crop identification.

“Agricultural data is nothing new, but technology has evolved tremendously, and so should the ways farmers be able to collect, share, and benefit from the data they generate on the farm,” said Jeremy Williams, Head of Climate LLC and Digital Farming for Bayer’s Crop Science Division. “Our industry can now rally around an infrastructure, data connectors, and readymade capabilities that can further deliver on the potential of digital farming solutions and the value we can bring to customers, such as the ability to tie into sustainability programs through better connectivity and data interoperability.”

Once initiated by a farmer, enterprise customers from across the agri-food value chain, such as retailers, financial institutions, and consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies can now connect and auto sync planting, application, and harvest activity files from FieldView, enabling the exchange of data between solutions built on Azure Data Manager.

One of agriculture’s biggest technology challenges is a lack of data interoperability. Farmers have seen advancements in the ability to connect data between on-farm platforms, but solutions allowing them to connect to services and opportunities beyond the farm have been largely unavailable. Companies and organizations supporting agriculture and related industries have also lacked the infrastructure and capabilities needed to best serve their customers.

Bayer data connectors for OEMs further improve farmer and industry connectivity

In addition to FieldView connectivity and enabled by Sonata Software – a leading modernization engineering company and agtech system integrator – Bayer is also developing new AgPowered Services allowing for machine data connectivity with leading OEMs, including Stara, Topcon, and Trimble. Enterprise users of Azure Data Manager will have an integrated, one-stop solution to connect securely and compliantly to key data sources for farm machinery data in the industry, thus bringing down the cost of technical investment that companies are facing today.

Furthermore, organizations can rely on the same system to connect to additional data sources, such as weather and imagery, and incorporate data-driven insights and recommendations from the suite of AgPowered Services into their customer-facing solutions. Azure Data Manager provides companies one place to connect to farm machinery data, weather, imagery, and insights from AgPowered Services.

More companies are bringing solutions to the industry platform

Along with FieldView and OEM connectivity, a new AgPowered Service further enhances the accessibility of farm machinery data. Bayer Farm Machinery Decoder powered by Leaf Agriculture can translate machine data from many different OEMs and platforms. This can accelerate innovation and improve solution delivery to farmers by making it easier to build with consistent data from multiple sources.

“Farm data is stored in hundreds of different formats, which is a major challenge for anyone who wants to be able to work with data from more than just one provider,” said Leaf CEO G. Bailey Stockdale. “By making it easy to work with consistent data in a single format, we help companies unlock new value from their existing data. Offering this Leaf service as an AgPowered Service helps bring this technology to more companies faster and further accelerate the pace of innovation in food and agriculture.”

Another new capability, Bayer In-Season Crop Identification powered by OneSoil, provides remote sensing capabilities (satellite imagery) allowing for in-season detection of key cash crops such as corn and soybean, alongside an additional ten crops, across North America, South America, and Europe. This groundbreaking service opens the door to a multitude of valuable applications throughout the agricultural value chain. From verification for carbon platforms or government subsidy programs for sustainable farming practices, to capacity planning and optimization for crop processing companies to enhancing insurance assessments for accurate risk management, these examples provide a glimpse into the vast potential this technology holds.

“Contributing to the platform’s AgPowered Services right from the start is truly exciting. OneSoil’s cutting-edge crop detection models, fueled by AI and remote sensing, showcase our commitment to revolutionizing the agricultural industry on a global level,” said OneSoil CEO Morten Schmidt. “Collaborating with Bayer opens doors to introduce our technology to customers around the world, marking a significant step up in modern agriculture.”

Industry platform Microsoft Azure Data Manager expands

Agrotech, Company News, India, Seeds, Sustainability

Potential to transform India’s rice production: 75 per cent of total rice cultivation area expected to shift to direct-seeded rice practices by 2040.

Bayer has announced the introduction of its direct-seeded rice (DSR) system at the 6th International Rice Congress in Manila. Moving from transplanted puddled rice cultivation to direct-seeded rice can help farmers to reduce water use by up to 40 percent, greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by up to 45 percent and reduce farmers’ dependence on scarce and costly manual labor by up to 50 percent. The introduction of the DSR system is fully in line with Bayer’s recently announced approach to regenerative agriculture which will enable farmers to produce more while restoring more.

Driven by these advantages, DSR has the potential to be transformational with 75 percent of total rice fields in India expected to switch to this cultivation method by 2040, in comparison to roughly 11 percent today. By 2030, Bayer plans to bring the DSR system to one million hectares in India, supporting over two million early-adopter smallholder rice farmers through its DirectAcres program.

Already underway, DirectAcres has seen considerable success with 99 percent of Indian farmers achieving successful plant establishment and 75 percent a higher return on investment compared to rice grown using the conventional transplanted method. Bayer plans therefore to introduce DirectAcres in other rice growing countries in Asia Pacific, starting with the Philippines in 2024.

“We are building entire systems based on regenerative agriculture practices that create value for farmers and nature alike and that help address the issue of global food security,” said Frank Terhorst, Head of Strategy & Sustainability at Bayer’s Crop Science division.

Traditionally, rice farmers first grow seedlings in nurseries before transplanting them in ploughed, levelled and flooded paddy fields. Over the subsequent months the water level must remain constant to ensure that the plants establish and grow. Shortly before the harvest the farmer drains the field. Some 80 percent of the world’s rice crop is today produced using this method.

Now, using advanced R&D capabilities, Bayer is designing climate-resilient rice hybrids with higher yields that can be sown directly in the soil and bred specifically for the different farm environments. By removing the standing water, machinery can perform much of the otherwise time consuming and arduous, manual farming practices. The reduced dependence on excess water – used partly to prevent weeds – means access to crop protection solutions will be key to the transformation. To address this, Bayer is developing new crop protection solutions including a new rice herbicide to ensure a successful and durable weed management program for the direct-seeded rice system.

DSR has the potential to change this by reducing the water use and the GHG emissions created by methane emitting bacteria that thrive in the standing water. The reduction of on-farm manual labor – through mechanization – addresses the issue of continuous labor shortage in the Indian countryside due to rapid urbanization. This has been recently confirmed in the Farmer Voice study supported by Bayer: 22 per cent of Indian smallholder farmers see labor costs as one of the biggest challenges to their operations.

At the 2023 UN Water Conference, Bayer committed to improving water use by 25 percent per kilogram of rice produced by its smallholder farmer customers enrolled in the DirectAcres program by 2030. Bringing direct-seeded rice to one million hectares by 2030 also contributes to the company’s sustainability goals of reducing customers’ on-field GHGs per kilogram of crop produced by 30 percent and empowering 100 million smallholder farmers to sustainably increase their productivity, improve the quality of their produce and enhance their livelihoods.

Potential to transform India’s rice production: 75

Agrotech, Award, Company News, Start ups

FarmSense’s award-winning FlightSensor utilises patented technology, computational entomology, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and real-time analytics to improve insect monitoring and crop management efforts

Agtech startup FarmSense, announces that it has been awarded the top prize in Bayer’s global Grants4Tech Pest Monitor Challenge. The FarmSense team recently spent multiple days demonstrating the capabilities of their FlightSensor technology during the finalists’ event at Bayer’s headquarters in Germany. The panel of judges were impressed by FarmSense’s real-time pest monitoring technology and its promising potential to revolutionise pest monitoring efforts in commercial agriculture — resulting in the top prize of 10,000€ and possible future collaboration with Bayer.

Bayer described the goal of the competition as a search for “novel technologies to detect and identify above and/or below ground pests in crops at an early infestation stage, enabling an optimized application of crop protection solutions.” Finalists were scored on four categories: novelty of hardware design, sensitivity (spatial and temporal resolution), scalability (robustness, affordability, ease of use), and testability.

“FarmSense is honored to receive the top prize in the Bayer Grants4Tech Pest Monitor Challenge. Technological advances in real-time pest monitoring and classification, like FarmSense’s FlightSensor provides, are essential to support the continued growth of commercial agriculture in a sustainable manner. We are enthusiastic about the future of FarmSense,” said Dr Shailendra Singh, FarmSense co-founder and CTO.

FarmSense’s award-winning FlightSensor utilises patented technology, computational entomology, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and real-time analytics to improve insect monitoring and crop management efforts. The FlightSensor is a revolutionary step forward in pest management, saving growers time, labour and money, and reducing the need for pesticide use while improving crop yield.

FarmSense's award-winning FlightSensor utilises patented technology, computational

Agro chems – Chemicals, Agrotech, Company News, Europe, Finance, R&D

This is the company’s largest single investment in its Crop Protection business in Germany.

Bayer significantly strengthens its commitment to innovation in regenerative agriculture with a EUR 220 million investment in research and development (R&D) at its Monheim site. This is the company’s largest single investment in its Crop Protection business in Germany since the founding of the Monheim campus in 1979. The new Product Safety complex with labs, offices, and a greenhouse area offers space for approximately 200 employees. Its principal focus will be on developing the next generation of chemicals for a sustainable future and enhancing the environmental and human safety of Crop Protection. The new facility will boost Bayer’s efforts to become a major contributor to regenerative agriculture by developing and bringing to market new Crop Protection solutions which have even better environmental profiles than those currently available and will play a key role in significantly reducing agriculture’s impact on the environment.

“Looking into the future, we must radically transform today’s farming systems and switch to regenerative agriculture practices that produce more with less, while restoring more. There is a high demand for pushing beyond established standards in safety to unlock breakthrough innovation and Crop Protection solutions with better environmental profiles,” said Dr. Robert Reiter, Head of R&D at Bayer’s Crop Science Division.

The investment is also a clear commitment to Europe as a base of operations as well as one important cornerstone of Bayer’s Future Concept for Germany. “Even in times of economic uncertainty, we are laser-focused on innovation and future technologies,” Dirk Backhaus, Head of Product Supply at Crop Science, pointed out. “We have a long track record of investing into research, development, and production of safe chemical products for agriculture, and we’re eager to leverage our world class expertise in Germany to shape the future of regenerative agriculture here and around the world. The new facility at our Monheim site is a shining example of precisely that: Investments in future technologies, modern facilities, and, most importantly, our people.” Over the past three years, Bayer has invested EUR 180 million at its Dormagen site, with a focus on expanding production capacities for modern Crop Protection.

 The opportunity to invent better, climate neutral and environmentally benign Crop Protection products is huge and aims to strengthen Bayer’s global competitiveness. As such, this investment also reflects Bayer’s commitment to the innovative capacity of Germany and Europe. The anticipated construction period of the new Monheim facility will be around 3 years. Full commissioning is planned for 2026.

The new R&D facilities will be an important cornerstone of Bayer’s new innovation approach for Crop Protection. Already today, Bayer’s product portfolio ranks very well in terms of environmental impact. But the company is strongly committed to reducing it even further and pushing beyond established standards.

“With our new disruptive innovation approach – what we call CropKey – we are now designing molecules instead of selecting them,” said Rachel Rama, Head of Small Molecules at Crop Science. “This is based on a discovery concept which allows us to create solutions based on the predefined safety and sustainability profiles that go above and beyond current standards.” Data science, early safety screenings, modeling and artificial intelligence are crucial elements that enable our top scientists to create the next generation of Crop Protection, taking advantage of massive amounts of data and machine learning and setting a new benchmark. “With our investment in Monheim, we are now building a new data powerhouse in a high-tech work environment that will be highly attractive for our researchers and future top talents.”

The new innovation approach to Crop Protection is also clearly aligned with Bayer’s sustainability commitment to reduce the environmental impact of Crop Protection products by 30% by 2030.

This is the company’s largest single investment