Bayer has announced a series of projects that aim to reduce its environmental impact by 30 % by 2030. The planned strategies include developing new technologies, scaling down crop protection volumes, and enabling a more precise application, as well as partnering with global experts and stakeholders.
Bayer wants to offer farmers more variation in crop protection. Therefore, over the next decade, it will invest approximately 5 billion euros in additional methods to combat weeds. Improving the understanding of resistance mechanisms and developing more precise recommendations through digital farming tools are R&D topics of interest.
Since 2017, Bayer publishes all safety-related crop science studies free-to-view for everybody. They plan to invite scientists, journalists, and NGO representatives to participate in the scientific preparation of the upcoming EU glyphosate re-registration process. This will start later this year.
Another plan envisages applying consistent safety standards to all products worldwide. Since 2012, Bayer stopped selling all products that were considered as “acute toxicity class 1” by the World Health Organization (WHO) even when they were allowed in a particular market. Bayer announced to only sell crop protection products in developing countries that meet both, the safety standards of that local market and the safety standards of a majority of countries with well-developed programs to regulate crop protection products.
- Bayer AG, Leverkusen, Germany
