chemical and biological events of agricultural soils. The Group, with around 99,800 employees, obtained a turnover of 50.7 billion euros in its last financial year, of which 25.2 billion were used in the division of herbicides, phytosanitary products, seeds and various agricultural products, where 7,000 scientists work every day in the development of new solutions and technologies for the field. The decisive step to face this challenge was the acquisition in 2018 of the American company Monsanto – for 63,000 million dollars (59,200 million euros) – to become the largest agrochemical company in the world.

The company's latest announcement is the injection of 220 million to face the short-term challenges of farmers and ranchers around the world. It involves the creation of a new product safety complex – vegetable seeds – with laboratories, offices and a greenhouse area where 200 employees will work specifically.. In Spain, the Spanish company Kimitec manages this project from Almería with an innovation center for biological solutions for plant health and growth.

The goal is to develop the next generation of chemicals – pesticides – for sustainable production and regenerative agriculture.. To transform current agricultural production systems they have an irresistible ally also for the agricultural sector: Artificial Intelligence. The multinational's commitment is to reduce its emissions and the environmental impact of its phytosanitary products by 30% by 2030 and to have 100 million small farmers apply its techniques within that period.

Until then, the main challenge facing the agricultural sector is to try to mitigate the serious damage that climate change is causing: prolonged droughts, torrential rains or high temperatures.. As a consequence, 73% of farmers already admit that they have experienced an increase in the number of pests and diseases on their farms, which has led them to lose an average of 15.7% of their income in the last two years, based on the results of the Farmer Voice survey of 800 farmers in Germany, Australia, Brazil, China, the United States, India, Kenya and Ukraine. In Spain, it is enough to warn about the last two deficient oil harvests due to the weather (-40% of the usual production) to regret the enormous price increase (67% more in the last year) that the consumer has suffered.

Rodrigo Santos, president of Bayer Crop Science, assures Actualidad Económica that, given the growth of the world population (2.2 billion more people), a 50% increase in food production will be required despite an important limitation: farmers and ranchers will have 20% less land to produce their products: “This represents an enormous challenge and the solutions must come through new technologies, both for production and storage,” highlights the Brazilian executive.

More than half of producers (55%) place fertilizer costs as the main obstacle to optimizing their crops, followed by energy prices (47%), price volatility and income (37%). , together with the cost of crop protection (36%). For this reason, he assures that “glyphosate is a very important tool for regenerative agriculture of direct sowing,” says Santos while the EU member states decide whether to extend its use for another ten years, at the proposal of the European Commission.

Fran Terhorst, head of Strategy and Sustainability at Bayer Crop Science, also places the debate in the economic field, with an eye on farmers: “It is difficult to be green when you have red figures”. The challenge is not easy. Nor for consumers, who must be willing to pay a higher percentage for greener products.

THE LABORATORIES. In Monheim, a group of scientists who are experts in plant health are already working to design the next generation of phytosanitary products that increase resistance to climate change.. It is not a simple task. It's about finding a revolutionary crop protection innovation: “It's like looking for a star in the Milky Way,” compares Crop Science Bayer's Research and Development (R&D) director, Bob Reiter, who leads a team that It relies on technological tools that were not available until recently but that will help reduce the time to, through science, achieve the first generation of herbicide molecules by 2030.. “It is similar to the use of ChatGTP, but not with language, but with molecules,” he describes, while remembering that ten years ago “it was unthinkable to obtain so much information.”. All of this generated from the use of algorithms that find certain patterns among an unlimited number of organisms and achieve “the perfect molecule” in fungicides and insecticides.

The goal is for the phytosanitary products of the future to be safe for crop soil, but also for human health and the environment.. Therefore, a risk assessment is carried out on its environmental impact and its effectiveness in controlling pests and diseases, in addition to its effects on reducing waste or on plant extracts, such as microbes or fungi, aquatic organisms, birds. wild, mammals or pollinators. “Before the end of the decade, we want to create a herbicide molecule so that the grass we want grows and nothing more” for fruit, vegetable or barley plantations…

At a crucial moment, in the midst of two great wars with geopolitical changes where food has also been played as a currency, and after a Covid-19 pandemic that left great consequences, it is essential “to apply digitalization for the future of farmers and ranchers,” summarizes Rodrigo Santos. The agriculture of the next century is already being projected in the Moheim laboratories…