Factbook
Agricultural Solutions
Farming is fundamental to provide enough healthy and affordable food for a rapidly growing population while reducing environmental impacts. BASF’s Agricultural Solutions division connects innovation, customers, partners and agricultural experts and integrates sustainability criteria into all business decisions. We help farmers deliver the best possible outcomes, working to achieve the balance between economic, environmental and social value creation for sustainable and efficient agriculture.
Sales by region 2023 (location of customer)
Sales by direct customer industry 2023
1 Aquaculture, forestry, home and garden, industrial weed control, ornamentals, public health, turf, urban pest control
Portfolio
Digital farming
With products from xarvio® Digital Farming Solutions, we enable precision farming and help farmers globally optimize crop yield using fewer natural resources and crop inputs.
- We developed ONE SMART SPRAY jointly with Bosch. This technology detects weeds in row crops, delivers precise herbicide application and maximizes crop production while reducing environmental impacts. In 2023, it was launched commercially in Germany and Hungary.
Field crop seeds & traits
Bringing high yield potential germplasm, advanced trait technologies and continuous innovation addressing the current and future needs of farmers:
- A strong seed brand portfolio that delivers high-quality seed germplasms via high-performing hybrids and varieties that adapt to the growing conditions of local farmers. The portfolio includes InVigor® canola (oil seed rape), FiberMax® cotton, Stoneville® cotton and Credenz® soybean seed.
- From herbicide-tolerance to insect resistance and agronomic trait technologies, our traits help crops realize their full potential. The portfolio includes pod shatter reduction technology, LibertyLink®, GlyTol®, TwinLink®, TwinLink® Plus, Clearfield® Production System and Provisia® Rice System. The newest trait is Axant™ Flex, the first quadruple-stacked herbicide trait package for cotton.
Fungicides
Conducting pioneering research to find new active ingredients and provide our customers new options to control fungal diseases:
- Revysol® meets the highest level of regulatory standards and offers outstanding biological performance against difficult-to-control pathogens in specialty and row crops. The active ingredient has received registrations in all regions. Revysol®-based products have been introduced globally in all major crops.
- Xemium® is a key component of BASF’s fungicides portfolio due to its broad-spectrum disease control. It has excellent mobility in the plant and long-lasting residual action. Xemium® is available in more than 80 countries for roughly 150 different crops.
Herbicides
Reducing competition from weeds secures yield and harvest quality, enabling no-till farming practices:
- Luximo®, with no known cross-resistance, provides soil residual control against a broad range of grasses in cereal crops.
- Tirexor® is a PPO-inhibiting herbicide (protoporphyrinogen IX oxidase) for controlling weeds currently resistant to other PPO inhibitors, effective burndown of broadleaf weeds and suppression of annual ryegrass. Voraxor® harnesses the combined strength of Tirexor® and Kixor®, allowing the two potent PPO active ingredients to provide growers with a powerful, new weed control tool.
- Kixor CS® utilizes a patented and breakthrough solid encapsulation technology to control tough broadleaf weeds beyond pre-emergence to early post. Surtain™, powered by Kixor CS®, offers growers a wide application window with control or suppression of 79 key broadleaf and grass weeds.
Insecticides
Combating insect pests in agriculture and beyond:
- Axalion® Active is a new class of chemistry with a novel mode of action. Axalion® provides long-lasting control of a broad spectrum of piercing and sucking pests, while working harmoniously with beneficials and the environment when applied according to the label. Australian farmers had first access to Axalion® with the launch of Efficon® in April 2023; additional launches are planned in Asia, Europe and South America in the coming years.
- Inscalis®1 offers an alternative mode of action for the control of piercing and sucking insects in row and specialty crops as well as ornamentals.
- Broflanilide2, with a novel mode of action, is highly efficacious against chewing pests in specialty and row crops. It also combats ants, cockroaches and flies in the professional pest management market.
Seed treatment
Biological and chemical products, functional coatings and colorants to improve seed performance:
- Poncho® Votivo® is a systemic insecticide and biological seed treatment to control insect pests and protect against soil plant pathogenic nematodes.
- ILEVO® seed treatment for soybeans provides broad-spectrum nematode protection against soybean sudden death syndrome and cyst nematode, two of the top yield robbers.
- Teraxxa® is the only seed treatment for cereals that eliminates wireworms by interfering with nerve signal communication.
- Sepiret® delivers performance and industry-leading sustainability with microplastic-free seed coatings.
Vegetable seeds
We develop solutions for growers to produce high-quality vegetables more efficiently and sustainably through breeding and partnerships across the value chain. Under the Nunhems® brand, BASF offers a diverse range of over 1,200 vegetable varieties sourced from 20 different crops.
- The development of the first iceberg lettuce variety that is well-suited for mechanical harvesting is an example of BASF’s focus on varietal breeding to tackle grower challenges like availability and cost of labor. Additionally, the Flexiton leek variety reduces cleaning costs for growers by up to 20 percent.
1 Co-developed with Meiji Seika Pharma Co. Ltd
2 Co-developed with Mitsui Chemicals Agro, Inc.
BASF’s market position and main competitors
The Agricultural Solutions division holds one of the top four market positions in almost all strategic business areas in which it is active.
The main competitors (alphabetical order) include Bayer, Corteva, FMC and Syngenta.
Research and development
Our innovation pipeline has a peak sales potential of more than €7.5 billion for products and solutions launched by 2033. These are seeds, traits, fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, biological and digital solutions tailored to the farming needs of their region and crop systems. The industry’s first commercial biotechnology trait to control nematodes is in development as well as multiple novel weed control solutions, including a new PPO herbicide with a corresponding herbicide tolerance gene.
Selected acquisitions/JVs/investments/divestitures
From 2021 onward
| Product group | Description | Year |
| Crop protection/active ingredients | Divestiture of active ingredient for control of plant-parasitic nematodes to Mitsui Chemicals Agro | 2021 |
| New fermentation plant for biological and biotechnology-based crop protection products (Germany) | 2025 | |
| Digital farming | Founding of BOSCH BASF Smart Farming GmbH | 2021 |
| Acquisition of Horta S.r.l. (Italy) | 2022 | |
| Formulation capacities | New formulation facility (Singapore) | 2022 |
| Seeds | Expansion of tomato breeding facilities (Netherlands) |
2021 |
| Acquisition of melon breeding company ASL (France) |
2023 |
Innovation example
New plant for biotechnology-based crop protection products
BASF is investing in a new fermentation plant for biological and biotechnology-based crop protection products at its Ludwigshafen site. The plant will use microorganisms to convert renewable raw materials such as glucose into the desired products – a process known as fermentation. This development is another step in the transition to innovative manufacturing processes with lower energy intensity based on renewable raw materials.