In Germany, Bayer CropScience subsidiary HILD samen has opened enlarged seed technology facilities at its site in Marbach am Neckar, at a cost of €4m, designed to process and store various types of vegetable and herb seeds on an area of 4,000m2.
'The vegetable seed business is of outstanding importance for Bayer CropScience,' said Achim Noack, member of the Bayer CropScience board of management responsible for Product Supply. 'Our objective is to exploit this good technological position in order to achieve stronger growth in this segment in the future.'
For the new building, HILD acquired the 4,700m2 area of land located next to its existing site in late 2009. HILD's Marbach site, where its team of 75 employees breeds and processes new varieties of radish, herbssuch as chives, parsley, basil, dill, and other crops, now covers an area of more than 17ha.
In 1989, HILD was the first breeding company in Germany with protected varieties to also produce and market certified organic seeds. In addition to its sales to professional horticultural producers, HILD also markets seed for the home garden sector worldwide via repacking companies.
'Bayer CropScience is making this investment to develop new solutions that will help producers boost their yields and increase their productivity, with appropriate plant traits that meet consumers' quality requirements,' explained Douwe Zijp, CEO of Nunhems, the vegetable seed business of Bayer CropScience.
And Dr Paul Rubitschek, managing director of HILD, added: 'The high technical quality of our seed is a precondition for success and customer satisfaction. This extended seed technology facility will enable us to better meet the individual needs of our customers in future.'
