Bayer to drop rice seed business in Latin America

Bayer CropScience is to cease commercialisation of rice seed in Latin America from next year in order to focus on other key crops. The company is to redirect investments towards cotton, soybeans, fruit and vegetables. It has an “innovative product pipeline” in seeds and biotechnology for those crops, providing “great opportunities”, in Latin America, the company says. “The opportunities for innovation in biotechnology are enormous, but demand large investments,” Bayer global rice manager Alex Merege notes. That has led the company to prioritise its offering towards those crops in Latin America, he adds. The company is to market its Arize rice seed until next year. It will also continue to offer “innovative” crop protection products for use on rice. Furthermore, rice business will maintain its status as a “strategic crop” for Bayer globally, with particular concentration on Asia, where the company is market leader for rice.