Leverkusen, Germany
November 19, 2007
As part of the “Bayer Climate
Program” press conference,
Bayer CropScience
organized a workshop titled “Climate Change and Crop Production:
Perspectives from Bayer CropScience” to present the contribution
that the subgroup is making to meeting the challenges of the
future. The main impact of climate change on farmers is the
potential loss of harvests as a result of climatic variations.
Bayer CropScience has specifically focused its research
activities on ways of safeguarding harvests and increasing
yields. “In the context of limited arable land and an
ever-expanding world population with a growing need for food,
feed and energy, our concern is to safeguard and increase yields
of agricultural crops,” explained Dr. Rüdiger Scheitza, Member
of the Board of Management of Bayer CropScience and Head of
Global Portfolio Management. “The development of stress-tolerant
plants can help to mitigate the impact of climatic variations.”
Better stress protection for plants
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Plants are exposed to a variety of
stress factors which can have a negative effect on their growth
and health. This can be due to insects, fungal infections,
weeds, bacteria or viruses, for example, all of which are known
as “biotic” factors. The “abiotic” stress factors include
drought, heat, cold and soil salinity. These factors are
responsible for the sometimes dramatic yield losses in many
regions of the world. Bayer CropScience is responding to these
challenges with a chemical and a biological approach. “Confidor®
Stress Shield Inside” is the proprietary name under which the
company is already marketing active ingredient formulations
capable of protecting against both biotic and abiotic stress
factors. Recent research has also shown that this technology,
when used in the insecticide Gaucho®, can make rice plants more
resistant to fluctuations in the salt content of brackish water.
Bayer CropScience is also focusing its plant biotechnology
research on new solutions to the stress-related loss of energy
in plants. The PARP protein plays a key role in this process as
it consumes a great amount of energy when the plant is under
stress, and this leads to yield losses. Initial field trials
have shown that canola plants with genetically enhanced
properties are better able to withstand drought conditions and
other forms of stress. Significant increases in yield compared
with plants which are not stress-resistant have also been
achieved under field conditions.
High-yielding canola for biodiesel
 The growing global demand for biofuels is leading to a distinct
increase in the use of agricultural raw materials to produce
plant-based fuels. Bayer CropScience markets a comprehensive
range of crop protection products for the major energy crops
sugar cane, corn and wheat, all used to produce bioethanol and
oilseed crops such as canola and soybeans which are used to
produce biodiesel. In addition, Bayer CropScience has for many
years held a leading position in the North American market with
its high-yielding InVigor® canola seed which can be processed
into biodiesel. It has been shown that InVigor® can produce
yields which are about 20 percent higher on average than those
achieved with regular hybrid varieties. If we translate the
yield of Canadian canola, for example, into the liter yield of
biodiesel per hectare, InVigor® produces around 190 liters more
biodiesel per hectare than other hybrid canola seed. Biodiesel
produces around 1.5 kilograms of CO2 per liter less than fossil
fuel. The fossil-fuel input into the production of biofuel has
already been factored into this calculation.
One approach to respond to the acreage competition involves the
inedible jatropha plant. It flourishes in soil that is
unsuitable for food production. Jatropha seed is over 30 percent
oil, which can be used as a raw material for biodiesel. Bayer
CropScience is planning to cooperate in a research project with
partners to drive the use of jatropha-based biodiesel. The
company’s particular know-how regarding the question of a
future-oriented, economically efficient cultivation of this crop
will be proving very useful.
Bayer AG is a global research-based and growth-oriented
enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care,
nutrition and high-tech materials. Bayer CropScience AG, a
subsidiary of Bayer AG with annual sales of about EUR 5.7
billion (2006), is one of the world’s leading innovative crop
science companies in the areas of crop protection,
non-agricultural pest control, seeds and plant biotechnology.
The company offers an outstanding range of products and
extensive service backup for modern, sustainable agriculture and
for non-agricultural applications. Bayer CropScience has a
global workforce of about 17,900 and is represented in more than
120 countries.
More information is available at
www.climate.bayer.com. |
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