Bayer CropScience has announced that it plans to substantially expand its site in Wismar, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, to enable it to meet the growing global demand for biological crop protection solutions.
The planned investment includes the construction of a new manufacturing facility for biological crop protection products and the requisite infrastructure, with the extension to the production capacities carried out in stages with a completion date of 2016 at the latest.
Furthermore, Bayer CropScience plans to consolidate its local research and development activities in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in a new building complex at the Wismar site, coming to an overall investment total of approximately €18m.
Construction of the production facility began in March with a ground-breaking ceremony performed by Stefan Rudolph, under secretary, ministry for economic affairs, construction and tourism for the federal state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Bernd Naaf, member of the board of management of Bayer CropScience AG, and Peter Lueth, managing director of Bayer CropScience Biologics GmbH.
'Using biologicals is another future-oriented way of sustainably increasing agricultural productivity,' said Bayer CropScience Naaf. 'The planned investment in our German site in Wismar is therefore not only a major step to strengthen Bayer CropScience's position as a leading supplier of integrated solutions to agriculture. Our range of seeds, combination of chemical and biological products and services also help us support our customers so that they can grow high-quality produce.'
Naaf was also optimistic that, depending on how the market develops, it will be possible to add more employees to the workforce.
At present, research into new biological solutions based on fungal spores is conducted at Bayer's site in Malchow on the island of Poel, Germany. In the future, Bayer CropScience's local research and development activities will be concentrated in Wismar.
