BASF has raised the 2020 sales target for its crop protection division by about a third. The German chemical group said it now expects to achieve revenues of €8 billion by 2020, up from €4.7 billion in 2012. The earlier target of €6 billion by that year is now forecast to be met by 2015. Toward meeting the new goal, the some €1.8 billion will be invested to build and upgrade production and formulation capacity up to 2017.

Including the 2013 budget, BASF said it will double its annual spending on tangible capital assets in the division to from €150 million to more than €300 million by 2017. Among other products, the monies will be invested in the blockbuster fungicides F500 and Xemium produced in Germany and the key herbicides dicamba and Kixor produced in the U.S. With a particular focus on Asia, existing formulation units will be expanded at selected global sites.

The group also has revised upward expectations for the sales value of its product pipeline launched between 2010 and 2020 to €1.7 billion. A "significant" contribution is expected from Xemium, along with "novel" herbicides and herbicide-tolerant solutions. Some 9% of divisional sales will be pumped back into R&D, with an eye toward developing new active ingredients, formulations and solutions outside the conventional crop protection boundaries.

In this field, BASF is pursuing an interdisciplinary strategy. With the now completed structural integration of Becker Underwood, acquired earlier in 2013, the group said it has become "a leading provider of seed solution offers, including integrated solutions to help growers improve their output. Product innovation, in addition to seed enhancement, will focus on new areas such as soil management.

The newly established global Functional Crop Care unit will also deliver technologies to help plants "better manage" stress factors such as heat, cold and nutrient deficiency, BASF said.