Bayer CropScience officially opened its new, $17 million greenhouse at
Agricenter International this week.
The 76,000-square-foot greenhouse and headhouse will serve as the company's international hub for cotton and soybean research and development.
John Charles Wilson, Agricenter International President, said the new facility is of major importance to his organization.
"Agricenter is an area in Memphis and Shelby County that was developed for this very type of work, new technology and innovation," Wilson said. "Many people pass it every day and they don't know what's going on, that we have this kind of research going on here."
The new greenhouse will help Bayer CropScience deliver more choices to growers, allowing them to improve crop quality and yield.
"We are excited that Memphis continues to grow as a global leader in agriculture and that our relationship with Agricenter International--the world's largest urban farm and research test facility--has allowed us to continue our efforts in agriculture and bioscience solution development," said Mike Gilbert, Bayer CropScience’s Head of Global Breeding and Trait Development.
Sustainability played a key role in the greenhouse's design, incorporating automation that allows for an annual 40 percent reduction in natural gas and energy consumption. It features sensor-detecting light fixtures, high-efficiency greenhouse lights and recycled greenhouse water to irrigate seedings.
Wilson said the research that will come out of Bayer CropScience's new facility ultimately will benefit the overall environment.
"It's incredible what's being done to make the producer use less chemicals, less fertilizer and less water, making for a safer environment," he said.
Bayer CropScience has operated at Agricenter since 1992, but its latest investment will more than double its previous acreage, from four to nine acres. The Memphis site employs more than 20 people and supports all of the company's cotton brands, as well as soybean breeding and management, molecular breeding and management and stewardship management.
Bayer CropScience President and CEO Jim Blome said the new facility is part of the company's overall commitment to the Memphis area.
By Jane A. Donahoe
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