Tuesday, March 12, 2013

BASF drops corn project


BASF Plant Sciences is dropping a project to develop nutritionally-enhanced feed corn, but is increasing its efforts to develop corn that can resist fungal diseases.

It is also dropping efforts to get European approval to market a genetically-modified potato variety, citing the difficulties in persuading the government to grant approvals and activists’ disruptions in vandalizing test plots.

The damage inflicted by activists prompted BASF to move its plant sciences group from Germany to the Research Triangle Park in North Carolina.

The company said it’s dropping work on genetically-modified nutritionally-enhanced feed corn because it has failed to find a seed-corn marketing partner and because the potential market is relatively small.


"(Fungal resistant corn has) got a very robust market potential, and that's where we want to shift our resources, and put them into that area," said Fran Castle Rowland, global brand communications senior manager for BASF Plant Science.