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Challenge Climate Change

Demand for foodstuffs is growing, but they are becoming increasingly difficult to produce
Arable land available remains static
Use of new crop protection solutions, optimized cultivation technology and cutting-edge biotechnology

The exposure of crops increases to what are known as abiotic stress fractures like drought, heat, cold and saline soils.
Extreme weather events are devastating arable land

Meteorologists all over the world are recording more frequent extreme weather events such as failure or displacement of monsoons, and frequent unusual ocean current patterns. The expected increase in average temperatures poses serious consequences for humankind and nature
and has a considerable impact on the production of staple foods.

This increases the exposure of crops to what are known as abiotic stress fractures like drought, heat, cold and saline soils. They need more energy to grow. They also have to defend themselves against pests, micro-organisms and competing plants (this is known as biotic stress). This weakens plants in the long term and makes them more vulnerable to disease. As a result harvests can be up to 80 per cent below normal levels, caused by abiotic stress factors.

Safeguarding crops - increasing yields


Grain is a staple food for a large proportion of the world’s population.
The solution is to develop strategies capable of supplying food to a global population that, according to estimates of the UNO, is growing at the rate of 80 million people each year.

Bayer CropScience has initiated a number of projects to make plants more stress-resistant and achieve a significant increase in agricultural productivity, i.e. the yield per hectare of land under cultivation. In addition, research is being carried out into ways to make greater use of plants as fuels, while ensuring that the cultivation of such plants does not conflict with the production of food.

This can only be achieved by using an integrated approach that encompasses new crop protection solutions, seeds with higher potential yields, and optimized crop rotation, irrigation technology and fertilization. This approach also represents new opportunities in terms of modern plant cultivation methods and recognizes the potential of state-of-the-art plant biotechnology.


Chemical and biological approaches to protect against both biotic and abiotic stress factors.
One chemical approach is based on the stress-reducing effect of established active ingredients used in crop protection. For example, certain insecticides can have a positive effect on growth regardless of whether the plant is infested with insects or not. “Confidor® Stress Shield Inside” is the proprietary name under which the company is already marketing active ingredient formulations capable of protecting against both biotic and abiotic stress factors. Recent research has also shown that this technology, when used in the insecticide Gaucho®, can make rice plants more resistant to fluctuations in the salt content of brackish water.


Today’s modern technology can make plants more resistant and deliver higher yields. This in turn helps to meet the needs of the ever-increasing global population. At Bayer CropScience’s research center in Ghent, Belgium, work is carried out to optimize crop plants such as rice, canola and cotton.
Using biotechnology to combat climate stress

The Council for Biotechnology estimates that green genetic engineering could boost potential yields by around 25 per cent throughout the world. This is why Bayer CropScience also uses the plant biotechnology to immunize crops against stress due to climatic and environmental factors. The company's scientists are working to develop varieties of cereals, maize and rice that can be grown in extreme regions that were not previously suitable for farming. Examples include plants with a high resistance to salt and drought, which tolerate very hot or cold conditions, that can survive on very little nutrient or water input, or that can grow in heavily polluted soil.

Scientists working on canola have succeeded in reducing the activity of a gene responsible for generating high energy consumption when the plant reacts to stress – a factor that can lead to dramatic crop losses. Under dry field conditions, plants with reduced defensive reactions to stress demonstrated a considerable increase in yield.
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[ last update: Thursday, September 8, 2011 ]