Leading global agrochemical company Bayer CropScience is committed to bringing more value to stakeholders in China.

"Our mission here is to create value for stakeholders, and not only shareholders, by providing innovative crop protection solutions for the sustainable development of China's agricultural sector," said Dr Ian Chisholm, Country Head of Bayer CropScience Greater China.

Stakeholders include distributors, retailers, farmers, local governments and the staff of the company, he explained.

VIP project

To this end, Bayer CropScience has introduced the VIP (value in partnership) project in China, Chisholm said.

This is a unique program that focuses on creating value for the company's partners in the value chain - its selected distributors and retailers. More importantly, they all work on one chain to give new ideas to the farming community and bring added value to Chinese farmers.

"Our partners are the selected distributors and retailers. We together give strong and focused services to the farmers," said Chisholm.

He asserted that the company's top concern is protecting the interests of Chinese farmers.

China's large farming community and its large number of small-sized farms together create a huge and unique market.

According to Chisholm, more than 2,000 companies are engaged in providing formulations to the farmers, however the market size is estimated at nearly 1.6 billion euros ($2.16 billion) at distributor level.

On the other hand, there are a lot of fake, low-quality and environmentally unfriendly products in the market, which harm the interests of farmers.

"Farmers cannot tell the difference between the products. This is a big disadvantage for their production and livelihood, as well as for the local environment," Chisholm said.

He noted that, since 2004, the government has been phasing out some highly toxic organic phosphor pesticides, which could cause environmental and high residue problems.

"This is a real step in the right direction. But we are expecting a strong implementation of such policies nationwide, especially regarding environmental protection during agrochemical production and IPR protection enforcement in the agricultural material market," he added.

"As the leading agrochemical company, we are using our global expertise and combining it with local expertise to provide high-quality products and services to the farmers," Chisholm pointed out.

In the past, Bayer CropScience products used in China were mostly imported. At present, most of the products are formulated in the company's Hangzhou plant, which means the company can react quickly to the needs of farmers and bring more cost-effective products to them.

"Our teams are working closely with customers in different places to understand their needs," said Chisholm.

He said the company will continue to bring new products to China, promising to introduce at least one new product every year for the next few years. Bayer CropScience's innovative strength has helped it launch 38 new products in China in the past 10 years.

In addition to offering advanced products, the company has, in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture and local governments, launched programs to train farmers in the use of new technologies and products, and in techniques to change their production modes.

For example, the company has worked with the Ministry of Agriculture on a program to teach farmers more appropriate ways of growing vegetables.

It has also trained distributors and retailers to offer better services to farmers.

Social commitment

Bayer CropScience has always valued corporate citizenship and social commitment, said Chisholm.

In the past two years, the company has made large donations for flood relief in Hunan and Anhui provinces. It has also launched a micro-finance project to help farmers buy agrochemical products and provide training to farmers in Guizhou's underdeveloped areas.

Chisholm made special mention of the advanced production facilities at the company's Hangzhou plant. "We have invested in modern equipment in the plant, for example the most advanced incinerator in the industry, to make sure we are producing goods with the lowest environmental impact. This is a strong contribution to China's environmental protection," he said.

Chisholm added that the plant has the most stringent safety standards to ensure product quality and the safety of its employees.

Bayer CropScience has a very long history and deep roots in China because the firm comes from a number of companies that have a presence in the past 50 years in China's agrochemical sector. It was the first foreign company to set up an agrochemical joint venture in China.

According to ARN, a market research company, BayerCropScience was No 1 in the domestic crop protection market in 2006.

About 25 percent of the agrochemical products used by farmers in China originate from Bayer CropScience's research laboratories.

Headquartered in Beijing and with a production facility in Hangzhou, Bayer CropScience in China has sales presence in 22 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in the nation.

China has become one of Bayer CropScience's important markets, with sales here increasing steadily in recent years.

(China Daily 08/25/2007 page13)