Bayer CropScience and Chinese Academy Partner in Agricultural Development      

On November 4th, Bayer CropScience signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) on agricultural research for joint development and global marketing of agricultural products. CAAS and Bayer CropScience will initiate joint projects using the latest technologies in the areas of plant breeding, genetics, genomics and seed production.
   With this cooperation, Bayer CropScience will further expand its seeds and traits business in China in accordance with the long term plan for sustainable development of Chinese agriculture.
   In addition, the company plans to expand substantially the breeding and marketing of commercial rice seed in Asia, with the aim of increasing the production volume eightfold by 2017. Bayer CropScience opened a new rice development center in Suphanburi, Thailand this November. The launch of first commercial seed varieties to the Thai market is planned for 2011.
   According to Bayer CropScience, more than 90% of the rice produced in the world comes from Asian countries such as China, India, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand. The area planted to rice has increased by about a third since 1960, and the production volume has tripled over the same period. Yet this increase in production is now no longer sufficient to meet the global demand for rice, which is expected to grow by around 30% in the next 15 to 20 years. This could lead to bottlenecks in the food supply.