Wallaces Farmer

BASF joins ADM, Corteva Agriscience and others who have unveiled plans to boost sustainability.

Compiled by staff

December 3, 2020

3 Min Read
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BASF has committed to targets to boost sustainable agriculture by 2030, joining the ranks of other agribusinesses committing to sustainability.

Microsoft, ADM,  Corteva Agriscience and Bayer are among the companies announcing sustainability plans.

BASF's targets include:

  • Helping farmers achieve a 30% reduction in CO2 emissions per ton of crop produced.

  • Its Agricultural Solutions division will annually increase its sales share of solutions with a substantial sustainability contribution in the value chain by 7%.

  • Bringing digital technologies to more than 400 million hectares of farmland and continuing to ensure the safe use of its products with the right stewardship.

“Over the coming decades, our agricultural food system will undergo an accelerated transformation to provide access to enough healthy and affordable food for a growing world population. At the same time, we will need to mitigate its impact on our planet. This transformation is driven by the call for better yield – yield produced in ways that are recognized as valuable by society, are kind to the planet and help farmers earn a living,” said Vincent Gros, BASF’s Agricultural Solutions division president.

How will BASF reach its targets?

1. Climate smart farming. BASF will support farmers to become more carbon efficient and resilient to volatile weather conditions with technologies that increase yield, make farm management more effective, and decrease environmental impact. These include:

  • Nitrogen management products that reduce greenhouse gas emissions

  • Crop protection products that enable farmers to grow crops without plowing, reducing CO2 emissions from the soil and diesel use

  • New crop varieties providing higher yield stability especially under more severe weather conditions

  • Biological inoculants and innovative digital solutions

At the same time, the company is exploring ways to help incentivize CO2 efficiency and open new value streams for farmers. With these products and solutions, BASF will help achieve a 30% reduction in CO2 emissions per ton of crop produced.

2. Sustainable solutions. It is BASF’s goal to increase the number of sustainable solutions it brings to farmers year by year. BASF’s R&D pipeline contains solutions that support the efficient use of resources and reduce the environmental footprint. Examples:

  • Solutions that enable an increase in wheat yields by 4% on existing land, allowing the farmer to protect natural habitat

  • Targeted application of BioSolutions that disrupt the mating of certain moths, protecting plants throughout their life cycle as natural partners that complement conventional crop protection

  • Breeding innovations that make it easier for consumers to avoid food waste

3. Digital farming. Using digital technologies allows farmers to produce more with less, to make farming processes more efficient from field monitoring to the food supply chain. Digital tools have the capacity to reach vast numbers of farmers, including those in less developed countries, thereby increasing knowledge and raising awareness of on-farm sustainability. BASF aims to bring digital technologies to more than 400 million hectares of farmland cumulatively by 2030.

4. Smart stewardship. BASF offers the right stewardship with every product to ensure the safe use of its products around the farm and in the field.

What are other companies doing?

Bayer reward farmers in Brazil and the U.S. for generating carbon credits by adopting climate-smart practices – such as no-till farming and the use of cover crops – designed to help agriculture reduce its carbon footprint and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

The goals of Corteva Agriscience span a wide range of initiatives for farmers, the land, communities, and its operations. Improvements in soil health, on-farm productivity, climate action, water stewardship, biodiversity, supply chain transparency and worker safety are included.

ADM committed to reducing water intensity by 10% and achieving a 90% landfill diversion rate by 2035 as part of its plan to reduce the company’s environmental footprint.

Source: BASF

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