The growth expectations of seed improvement in arable crops in North America are prompting the Dutch seed improvement company Incotec to invest heavily in the coming period. The international group from Enkhuizen announced this on Thursday 4 May.
North America is the largest market for seed improvement in arable crops and is expected to grow further. The main crops are maize, soya, sunflower, rice, wheat and other grains, cotton and rapeseed.
Two new investments in the North American part of the company are planned for the 2017/18 period. According to Incotec the latest investments bring them closer to the arable crop market and boost Incotec's reach in the vegetable seed market in the eastern part of North America. With this, Incotec believes it is better able to develop new technologies, aimed at questions and needs in the market.
Film Coating Fluids
This summer, the production of film coating fluids for arable crops will move from Oxford, Indiana, to Mill Hall, Pennsylvania. Mill Hall is an existing production location of Incotec's parent company Croda and has all the necessary infrastructure to also house the production of film coating fluids. There is also enough space for a future expansion. The move will take place in the summer of 2017.
Innovation center
In addition, Incotec will open an Innovation Center near Des Moines, Iowa in early 2018. Des Moines is at the heart of North America's arable market and is close to production sites for corn, soy, rice and other field crops. This can improve customer service: more interaction and collaboration, timely technical support and better presentation of proof of concept products in a professional environment. Other benefits include an increase in production efficiency and capacity and the local availability of agricultural R&D talent.
Relocation Pollinator Plus operation
In 2018, the Incotec Pollinator Plus operation, currently in Oxford, will also move to Des Moines. Pollinator Plus is a technique to equalize the flowering period of (male and female) plants, in order to achieve an optimal production of hybrid maize seeds.
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