BASF sets sustainable agriculture goals for the next ten years

It includes reducing CO2 emissions by 30% per ton of crop produced and making digital technologies available for more than 400 million hectares of cultivated land

BASF’s Agricultural Solutions Division has committed to clear and measurable goals to promote increasingly sustainable agriculture by 2030. Using its innovation capacity, the company will help farmers reduce CO2 emissions by 30% per ton of cultivation produced and commit to increasing the offer of even more sustainable solutions by up to 7% per year.

Also, BASF will make digital technologies available for more than 400 million hectares of cultivated land and continue to work towards its products’ safe use through acceptable agricultural practices. The new commitments are further strengthened with the implementation of BASF’s Agriculture strategy, launched in 2019.

“Agriculture is essential for the well-being of the world. Our food production system will undergo an accelerated transformation to provide healthy and affordable food to a rapidly growing world population in the coming decades. At the same time, we will need to mitigate its impact on our planet,” said Vincent Gros, President of BASF’s Agricultural Solutions Division. “With our connected offerings, we support farmers around the world in doing the greatest work on earth so that together we can have a positive impact on the agricultural food system.”

Sustainable solutions

BASF aims to increase the number of sustainable solutions it makes available to farmers year after year. Thus, the company continually invests in its strong Research & Development pipeline, increasingly oriented by sustainability criteria. BASF’s R&D pipeline contains solutions that promote the efficient use of resources and contribute to the sustainability of production systems.

Digital Agriculture

Digitization contributes to more efficient and sustainable agriculture. Thus, BASF will help farmers with digital tools to expand their businesses profitably and, at the same time, reduce their environmental footprint. The adoption of digital technologies allows farmers to produce more with fewer resources to make processes more efficient from the field to the consumer’s table.

Safety and good practices

BASF is committed to its products’ safety for human health and the environment, promoting its solutions’ safe use and good agricultural practices. The company offers access to tools and services tailored to the daily work of each farmer. Among the offers related to safety and good practices are personal protective equipment, personalized training, digital solutions, and new application technologies, such as drones that reduce working time and potential exposure to pesticides.

Initiatives with the use of drones have already been launched in China and Colombia. Another example of BASF’s effort to facilitate and make the handling of crop protection products more effortless and safer is the easyconnect closed-transfer-system (CTS). The system was developed with partners and had the support of the leading players in the agricultural industry. The European market launch is planned for 2021/22.