BASF expands biological portfolio

The expanded facility at Littlehampton, England, was once owned by Becker Underwood – a biological spray and seed coating business BASF acquired in 2012 for $1.02 billion.

Shortly after the acquisition, BASF founded Functional Crop Care, which added interesting technologies from the Becker Underwood stable to their portfolio.

BASF also relaunched Becker Underwood’s NSW site at Somersby - a research, formulation and distribution plant – as their new Australian ag chemical division.

BASF is one of the world’s biggest chemical companies and are best known in Australian agriculture for its Clearfield production system.

BASF Functional Crop Care R&D vice-president Philipp Rosendorfer said the company, with crop product sales of more than E5.4 billion in 2014, were strengthening its ability to sustainably meet the growing global demand for biological solutions for agriculture and horticulture.

“At the Littlehampton site, BASF increases its production volumes of beneficial nematodes and inoculants, moving ahead with its strategy to develop solutions beyond conventional crop protection,” he said.

BASF were not willing to outline the cost of the expansion at the site, but says it has now doubled the capacity for producing beneficial nematodes.

Beneficial nematodes are microscopic organisms that can control a diverse range of insect and slug pests.

BASF use six different types of beneficial nematodes in their product portfolio, which includes brands such as Nemaslug and Nemasys, each with a distinctive mode of action for customers in vegetable, horticulture, and turf.

“The demand for our beneficial nematodes has increased significantly over the past five years, with 2014 being our best year to date,” said Graeme Gowling, Global Biologicals Marketing, Functional Crop Care.

“Our customers see an increasingly important role in using beneficial nematodes in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs, as they are easy to apply, have a longer window of activity and can effectively control yield-robbing pests.”

BASF also used the launch at Littlehampton to promote their inoculant lines, which have also had its production increased at the site.

Inoculants are rhizobia bacteria that, in a symbiotic relationship with their host legume plants, produce root nodules to conduct nitrogen fixation.

BASF produces biological inoculants as an ingredient for highly-effective seed treatments to enhance seed health, plant vitality and yield potential.

Some of their key products include Vault HP in North America, Hi Coat in Europe and South America, and NodulAid in Australia.

“This development will advance our market leader position in high-quality seed treatment,” Mr Rosendorfer said.

“Along with the production investments in Littlehampton and additional sites globally, we will continue strengthening our R&D and portfolio further.”