Crystal Crop Protection to acquire cotton, mustard, pearl millet and grain sorghum hybrids in India

The business acquired by Crystal Crop Protection represents a very small portion of Bayer’s Indian and global business portfolio.

“This acquisition is a step forward to provide high performance seeds to Indian farmers for sustainable growth of Indian agriculture,” said N K Aggarwal, chairman, Crystal Crop Protection Limited. However, the company refused to disclose the cost of acquisition.

With this acquisition, Crystal will become strong in crops seed business as it comes with powerful brands and R&D capabilities. The company has four operational formulations manufacturing facilities, two of which are located at Jammu, J& K, and one located at Sonipat, Haryana, and another at Anand, Gujarat.

With its recently inaugurated technical manufacturing facility at Nagpur, Crystal now has two operational technical plants, the first being at Sonipat, Haryana. The third technical manufacturing facility is coming up at Dahej, Gujarat. Crystal has a pan India presence having deep penetration with stocks supplied through 32 distribution centres to its 5000 distributors. Its products reach more than 30,000 retail outlets across the country.

Sarjiwan Manhas, CEO, Seed Business, Crystal Crop Protection Limited, said “These acquired crops have an excellent strategic fit in our seeds portfolio and will support us in improving our footprints in the Indian seeds market.”

Crystal plans to grow its brand business rapidly and with its strong pipeline, it plans to introduce 3-4 world class products every year in all categories – fungicides, insecticides, herbicides and bio-stimulants.

D. Narain, Senior Bayer Representative, South Asia and CEO & MD, Bayer CropScience Limited said, “While we have divested a small portion our business portfolio, Bayer remains fully committed to the long-term growth of Indian agriculture and will continue to bring next-generation technologies that drive agricultural productivity, enable farmer prosperity and promote sustainable agriculture.”

Bayer CropScience will continue to drive the business until full transfer to Crystal Crop Protection Ltd.