North Carolina’s reputation as the capital of agricultural biotechnology was boosted Wednesday as BASF raised the curtain on a $33 million expansion of its Research Triangle Park campus for a crowd of more than 500 well-wishers.

The 80,000 square feet of new office, laboratory and greenhouse space, first disclosed in February of 2012, supports the company’s growing plant biotechnology and insect control research.

BASF established a base on Davis Drive in RTP exactly 27 years ago, with the September 1986 opening of a crop protection facility for developing and producing insecticides, fungicides and herbicides. Since then it has grown the site into the North American headquarters for its crop protection division.

It also established a plant science group on the RTP campus in 1998, which is working on genetic traits that can improve the yields of corn, wheat, soybeans, canola, rice and cotton. RTP has subsequently been designated the company’s global plant science headquarters.

RTP “the Silicon Valley for Ag Biotech”

The bottom line is that BASF is now the largest agricultural employer in RTP, with some 275 plant science employees and 675 in crop protection. Peter Eckes, Ph.D., president of BASF Plant Science, says RTP fast becoming the Silicon Valley for ag biotech.

Fran Rowland, global brand communications senior manager at BASF Plant Science, said North Carolina’s highly trained and motivated workforce, the Triangle’s dense concentration of research universities and global agricultural companies, and support from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center are prime reasons BASF continues to invest so heavily here.

“North Carolina offers such great quality of life for our employees,” said Rowland, “and it’s a hub for top talent. We’ve recruited scientists from a number of universities here. That’s why we, Monsanto, Syngenta, Bayer and others are locating here, and why our business model of collaboration will continue.”

Greenhouse for Transgenics, Insectary Included

The company’s three-story expansion dedicated today includes offices on the top floor, labs in other areas and a state-of-the-art 14-bay greenhouse addition dedicated exclusively to the company’s transgenic research and development.

It also includes an insectary, where the company’s pest control scientists will raise troublesome critters such as southern armyworms, bedbugs and termites, and test deterrents against them. Beyond row crops, BASF also targets golf courses, turf, ornamental and other markets.

Collaborations Lead to New Products

BASF collaborates with a number of agricultural giants, primarily providing research to identify key traits that can improve corn, soybeans and rice. Its largest partnership, with RTP neighbor Monsanto, resulted in a major commercial product debut this year — a drought-tolerant corn system branded Genuity DroughtGard Hybrids.

While corn and soy consume most of the BASF collaboration with Monsanto, rice is a major focus of its work with Bayer CropScience here and at a BASF facility in Belgium.

BASF is also collaborating with Cargill to develop canola oil as an alternative source for heart-healthy Omega 3 fatty acids.

In April 2013 BASF filed development plans with Durham city and county officials for a 140,000-square-foot office addition and an 8,000-square-foot maintenance building that may be added to its 125-acre Davis Drive campus. That could house employees scattered in rented offices in other RTP-area sites, as well as accommodate some future growth.

(C) NC Biotechnology Center