NEW DELHI (Dow Jones)--Bayer CropScience, a subsidiary of German company Bayer AG (BAY) plans to expand operations so as to be able to grow and sell hybrid rice seeds in China, Bangladesh and Pakistan by next year, a senior company executive said Tuesday.
Bayer also plans commercial plantings and sales of hybrid rice seeds in the U.S. and Thailand in the next three to four years.
Bayer, a crop science company, already has a large presence in India through a group company, Proagro Seed, with nearly one-third of the area under rice hybrids in the country planted with its seeds.
Developing and planting of rice hybrids is a global initiative and business involving dozens of companies to increase yields and ensure output keeps pace with rising demand for a crop that is the staple food of about half of the world's population.
"In China, we plan to collaborate with a local seed company in a joint venture," Frederic Arboucalot, rice general manager, Bayer (South East Asia) Pte Ltd. told Dow Jones Newswires on the sidelines of an international conference here on rice.
He said China is the largest country by area growing rice hybrids and is an important part of Bayer's plans to expand further into rice-producing regions.
Arboucalot said several rice hybrids are also being tested in Pakistan and Bangladesh.
"We hope to get permission for commercial planting of one of the rice hybrids in Pakistan by next year," he said.
He said two varieties have also been registered in Bangladesh and commercial planting of one of them is expected by next year.
Commenting on the company's global plans, Arboucalot said Bayer has registered its Arize 1003 rice hybrid in Brazil and commercial sales are likely next year.
Arize 1003 is a long slender grain, non-aromatic, non-sticky rice with a growing duration of 120 days.
"We couldn't make commercial sales this year because there weren't sufficient seeds available (of Arize 1003)," he said.
Plans For Seed Breeding Station In Thailand
"We do have a small team working in Thailand and will now invest in a seed-breeding station there," said Arboucalot.
He said commercial sales and plantings of the company's rice hybrids in Thailand could begin by 2010.
This month, Bayer has launched its Arize rice hybrids in Indonesia and Vietnam.
Arize Hibrindo R-1 that has been launched in Indonesia is a long, slender grain, moderately sticky rice with a growing duration of 115 to 120 days.
Arize B-TE, medium-slender grain rice with moderate aroma and growing duration of 110 to 115 days has been launched in Vietnam.
Bayer CropScience is also operational in the Philippines where its Arize Bigante and Arize H 64 rice hybrids are grown.
Bayer's Rice Program In U.S. Undergoes A Rejig
Arboucalot said that although Bayer CropScience is quite active in rice breeding in the U.S., commercial sales are unlikely before 2009.
He said initially the company was focusing on inbred varieties of rice in the U.S.
"Later we reviewed our strategy and decided to convert the program to focus on hybrids," he said.
Arboucalot said the company currently has no plans for commercial planting of genetically modified or GM rice though it (GM rice) could be a significant contributor to increase productivity in the future.
Arboucalot declined to comment on the recent controversy relating to Liberty Link rice strain that is believed to have found its way into commercial U.S. rice stocks.
"These (Liberty Link) were research events not meant for commercialization and there is an ongoing investigation being conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture," said Arboucalot.
Liberty Link rice was originally developed and planted in field trials testing its herbicide resistance by biotech company Aventis CropScience in the late 1990s and into 2000. The seed was abandoned for being a commercial nonstarter and later bought by Bayer AG when it acquired Aventis in 2001.
Source: Sameer Mohindru, Dow Jones Newswires; 91-11-2307-4020; sameer.mohindru@dowjones.com