The Monheim site

Your partner for growth

Farmers checking the health

of their cereal crop.

Bayer CropScience AG, a subgroup of Bayer AG, is one

of the world’s leading companies in the field of crop pro-
tection, non-agricultural pest control, and seed and plant
biotechnology.

History of the Monheim site

1965 1975
The idea of building a crop protection Serious consideration given to
research center is put forward for the building a crop protection center
first time
 Thai rice farmers being instructed
in the use of Bayer CropScience
products.
03

B ayer CropScience makes a major contribution to safeguarding

global food supplies. With a headcount of around 19,000
staff in more than 120 countries, the company generates annual
sales of approximately “6 billion. Comprehensive expertise, a high
level of rapid and effective innovation, close customer relations
and an international presence all form the basis for our efforts to
achieve above-average growth. Bayer CropScience plans to system-
atically extend its leading position with the steady launch of new
products.

Bayer CropScience develops and markets solutions to the problems

faced by farmers throughout the world. Our comprehensive prod-
uct range is moving modern crop protection towards a new level
of sustainable agriculture. Bayer CropScience also offers a variety
of products to professional pest managers and gardeners for con-
trolling pests such as insects and rodents, and weeds. Plant bio-
technology complements our traditional chemical approach to crop
protection, opening up highly promising opportunities for value-
added crop production, higher yields, and better-quality produce.

1977 1977 / 78
60 hectares of land is An international architectural
acquired in Monheim competition is held
Bayer CropScience AG
The Monheim site

The Tropicarium is the site’s central meeting place.

The newly-formed Bayer CropScience AG has had its

corporate headquarters in Monheim since June 2002.
Research and development of new crop protection sub-
stances takes place here, as does global product market-
ing. Technical facilities and demonstration rooms also give
us the opportunity to train our customers in the use of our
crop protection products.

T he site is spread over 60 hectares and comprises ten techni-

cal and administrative buildings. Around 1,800 people work
here, mainly chemists, biologists, engineers, sales staff and labora-
tory technicians. The site design was selected in 1979 following an
international competition and has won several architectural prizes.

1979
The foundation stone for the
Bayer Crop Protection Center is
laid (The project is split into three
construction phases)
1982
Completion of phase one: office building,
Tropicarium, biological research (fungi-
cides), power plant, workshops
 Green expanses and water features
give the site a campus character.

05

The site has a campus feel, thanks mainly to the large expanses of
green space, lakes and greenhouses. The heart of the site is the
Tropicarium, which houses conference rooms, the staff restaurant,
and a collection of more than 600 tropical and sub-tropical crop
plants.

Scientists working at the Bayer CropScience research and develop-

ment labs in Monheim use the latest technology to set standards
in the search for new active substances. These are then devel-
oped into innovative crop protection products for farmers through-
out the world, a process which takes many years of careful work.
Monheim’s research and development activities concentrate on
discovering new insecticides and fungicides, and on improving
existing crop protection products.

Our agronomists have 250 hectares of arable land directly adjacent

to the Monheim campus on which to carry out initial open-field tests
of new active substances. The firm’s own trials smallholding, about
20 kilometers away near the Bergisches Land town of Burscheid,
also makes a significant contribution to early trials under practical
conditions.

Bayer CropScience with its highly advanced research platforms is

the market leader in chemical crop protection. It has committed
itself to international quality, health, safety and environmental stand-
ards and supports sustainable agriculture. Its highly motivated, well-
trained staff enable the company to meet these commitments.

1985
Completion of phase two: chemical
research, ecobiology, metabolic research,
residue analysis
Chemical research

Networked information technology is the keystone

of synthesis

All new crop protection products are born in the chemistry

laboratory. Every year, chemists synthesize tens of thousands
of active substances towards producing tailor-made solu-
tions to crop protection problems all over the world.
Alongside conventional chemical laboratory techniques,
new methods such as parallel synthesis and robot synthesis
are also used.

P arallel synthesis produces several thousand compounds at

the same time, in quantities of a few milligrams of each com-
pound. In robot synthesis, many conventional laboratory processes
such as mixing, filtering and distilling are taken over by robots.

1988
Completion of phase three: biological research (insecticides
and herbicides), arthropod breeding station (for domestic
and health pests), formulation technology
 Synthesizing robots: fast,
accurate tools for support-
ing many conventional
laboratory tasks. 07

Research efficiency is vastly increased by the use of modern com-

puter simulation (modeling tools) and sophisticated analysis to pre-
dict or determine the structure and purity of chemical compounds.
This is only made possible through the availability of advanced net-
worked information technology to process the huge amounts of
data generated.

Following synthesis, chemical compounds are sent to other labora-

tories, where their spectrum of action is thoroughly investigated.
Strict testing criteria mean that after eight to ten years, only one in
about 50,000 compounds synthesized finally matures into a com-
mercial crop protection product.

2000
Substance logistics and UHTBS-
(Ultra High Throughput Biochemical
Screening) equipment brought into
commission
2002
Formation of Bayer CropScience AG:
the Monheim site becomes the corpo-
rate headquarters
Biological research

Substance testing starts with targets

Discovering innovative new active substances is an impor-

tant part of our research activity. Bayer CropScience has
created a technology platform for this work, comprising
enormous substance libraries containing more than 800,000
different ingredients, novel biochemical testing systems,
ultra-high throughput screening (UHTBS*) processes, scien-
tific software, micro-screening and advanced logistics.

U HTBS test systems are the most recent development. Con-

ventional tests use entire organisms (fungi, insects, weeds),
but UHTBS starts by investigating “targets” – proteins which are
essential to life, such as enzymes. An active substance that
blocks the activity of a target causes the organism to die. For
many active substances, we already know how they attack the
metabolism of the organism they control. UHTBS is used to find
 Active substance research: bio-
logical activity is investigated
using high-throughput screening.
09

An employee in substance logistics

loads the cold storage unit with
new microtitre plates.

new active substances for these targets, but also especially to find
compounds for new, as yet unidentified targets.
Bayer CropScience works in conjunction with renowned interna-
tional institutes and biotechnology firms to characterize the molec-
ular biology of these new targets.

UHTBS involves miniaturization and automation. Less than 0.05

milligrams of an active substance is needed for testing. Access to
enormous substance libraries, including chemicals synthesized by
chemists working at Monheim, is the starting point for tests on the
most varied sites of action. If a substance brings a positive response
in UHTBS, it is forwarded to the biological institutes, where it must
prove its effectiveness in more complex biological systems such as
the entire pest organism. Adjustments to the basic chemical struc-
ture through further synthesis work then allow new substances with
even better properties to be created.

* Ultra-High Throughput Biochemical Screening

Biological research

New active substances

to control fungal diseases and pests

The fungal diseases and animal pests that attack crops must
be controlled selectively. Every new active substance that is
synthesized therefore undergoes biological testing to deter-
mine its spectrum of action. The main aim is to discover sub-
stances with novel mechanisms of action that can be used
in integrated pest management by farmers growing major,
high-value crops such as cereals, corn, rice and soybean.

T he Institute for Plant Diseases starts the process by carrying

out tests on live fungi under sterile conditions. The tests examine
the effects of an active substance on six to eight selected plant path-
ogenic fungi. If the results are positive, further tests are then carried
out on selected crop plant hosts growing in the greenhouse. This
time tests are carried out on 10 to 20 different pathogens.

Other important activities include investigating the specific properties

of products under development, or of those already on the market,
to find ways of using crop protection products more efficiently by
targeting them more closely at the pest they are intended to control.
Research is also conducted on ways of recognizing and preventing
the development of resistance to active substances.
 Testing new sub-
stances to combat
spider mites (cul-
tured here on 11
cucumber leaves).

Powdery mildew Cotton aphid

(Erysiphe graminis) (Aphis gossypii)
on a cereal leaf

Main crops and diseases covered:

Cereals powdery mildew, rusts, leaf spots,

seed-borne diseases
Grapes powdery and downy mildew, botrytis
Fruit and vegetables powdery and downy mildew, scab,
botrytis, leaf and fruit rots

The Institute for Insect Pests investigates the effects of active sub-
stances on insect pests, spider mites and nematodes. Ideally, active
substances should be tolerated well by the plant, attacking only the
pest and leaving beneficial organisms unharmed. Of the thousands
of active substances that are tested every year in the company’s
laboratories and greenhouses, only about ten get as far as field trials
in various parts of the world where the crop they are suited for is
grown.

Intial tests involving pest organisms are carried out using a beetle
larva, a butterfly caterpillar, an aphid, a spider mite and a nematode.
Then the spectrum of pests tested is expanded to determine the
active substance’s efficacy more closely.
Environmental research

Institute for Metabolism and Environmental Fate:

Research to protect the environment

Scientists from various disciplines investigate the behavior

of componds in soil, water and air as well as in plants and
animals to ensure that crop protection products are as
safe and environmentally-compatible as possible.

W ith the support of a department dedicated to structural

elucidation of unknown metabolites, this institute carries
out fundamental research in the laboratory, and then conducts
greenhouse and field trials, which in some cases last for several
years. The company has its own lysimeter facility for measuring the
degree of leaching into soil.

Clear data on a product’s potential residues, metabolites and metab-

olism only become available once all of the necessary studies have
been completed. A risk assessment is then performed, but only after
the results of all of these studies have undergone complex simula-
tion calculations. A crop protection product can only be granted
marketing authorization if it presents no danger to humans or the
environment when used as directed.
 In the lysimeter facility, the
leaching behavior of crop
protection agents is tested.
13

Fish are excellent indicators of the

purity of water. Any potential risk to
its quality must be ruled out.

Institute for Ecotoxicology:

Protecting the ecosystem is the top priority

Crop protection products must be safe for the environment.

That is why testing how they affect the ecosystem is so im-
portant.

L aboratory scientists working on aquatic and soil organisms

determine whether active substances negatively affect micro-
organisms, earthworms, algae, water fleas, mosquito larvae or fish.
Similar investigations are carried out on vertebrates, because crop
protection products must not cause unintentional effects on non-
target birds or mammals when used for brief or extended periods.
Behavioral and reproductive studies are performed in specific cases.

All this research is conducted in accordance with internationally-

recognized testing methods, which in many cases go beyond
registration requirements. One example of this is the feed consump-
tion test using telemetry (transmitters) occasionally carried out on
wild vertebrates.
Environmental research

Institute for Residue Analysis:

Safety for users and consumers

Crop protection products must also undergo tests on the

residue characteristics of their active ingredients and metab-
olites before the products can be registered.

I n specially designed open-field tests, active substances are ap-

plied to various agricultural crops just as they would be used in
practice. The harvested plants, the plant- or animal-based food pro-
duced from them, and the soil, water and air samples are investigated
for residues using highly-sensitive analytical equipment (see picture)
and assessed according to international quality standards.

The results are then used in risk assessments (a process carried out
jointly with toxicologists) to ensure consumer safety. Potential envi-
ronmental risks are also examined, and risk assessments carried out,
to protect users of crop protection products, such as farmers and
farm laborers.
Formulation technology 15

Exploiting the full potential of our chemicals

Active substances must be formulated in the most appro-

priate way so that farmers can apply them safely and effec-
tively to their crops, whether as a spray, as granules or as
a seed dressing.

T he formulation technology department based in Monheim de-

velops new fungicidal, insecticidal and seed treatment formu-
lations for this purpose. The active substances in these products
are the fruits of our own research activities. Products that are already
on the market can also be improved by developing new formulation
types. This work ensures that our products continue to meet the in-
creasingly demanding standards of efficacy required in the field,
and are as safe as possible regarding the environment, users and
consumers.

The formulation technicians working in Monheim have access to

the latest laboratory technology and a pilot formulation plant (see
picture). This allows them to produce the best results at all stages
of formulation development, right up to registration and actual use
in agriculture.
Development of
crop protection products

Crop protection products suitable for use in integrated

agriculture must be:

Highly effective against fungal diseases, animal pests

or weeds
Applicable at low rates
Safe for users (farmers) and consumers of the
produced food
 17

* without costs for production facilities

Simplified schematic presentation of a highly complex process.

All steps are guided by effective project management.

Environmentally acceptable, i. e. they must break down quickly

and must neither contaminate surface waters and ground water,
nor harm beneficial organisms such as bees and ladybirds
Affordable for farmers (good value for money)
Breeding insects from
non-agricultural areas

To help control hygiene pests, and storage and

materials pests

Bayer has been involved in insect-breeding for over 40

years. It uses specially-developed methods and follows par-
ticular requirements in producing pests that are then sent
to test laboratories and partner universities for use in con-
ducting the necessary tests on trial substances.

T he mosquitoes, most important group of hygiene pests, include

the malaria mosquito, the yellow fever mosquito and the tropical
house mosquito. But cockroaches (German, Oriental and American
species) are also needed for testing, as are various species of flies
(including houseflies, fruit-flies and bluebottles). Other insects bred
include bedbugs, Chagas bugs, fleas and various ant species (garden
ants, pharaoh ants, ghost ants and Argentine ants). The storage and
material pests group includes grain weevils, Indian meal moths, clothes
moths and carpet beetles. Nuisance insects such as woodlice and silver-
fish are also bred for use in developing new active substances.
Quality management 19

Quality, safety, health protection and

environmental protection:
Key elements of company policy

In all of its various activities, Bayer CropScience operates in

accordance with the international principles of sustainable
development and the principles of Responsible Care®.

T his incorporates comprehensive risk assessments when carrying

out research and developing products, ensuring that production
processes are appropriate and taking a responsible approach to prod-
uct distribution, use and disposal. We support farmers in the use of
tried and tested cultivation methods as part of integrated crop man-
agement. Our top priorities are quality, safety, and protection of health
and the environment. We are also involved in work to further improve
what are already very high standards.

The Monheim site operates an integrated process-oriented manage-

ment system to support these efforts. Among other marks of recog-
nition, it is certified according to the quality management standard
DIN EN ISO 9001:2000.
 Monheim
Frankfurt
Potsdam
Ghent
Lyon
Stilwell, Kansas
Research Triangle Park,
North Carolina

USA Europe

Global research activities

A global network of expertise

B ayer CropScience’s extensive network of research and develop-

ment facilities allows it to react to the needs and requirements
of its customers, farmers and professional pest control companies.
Scientists working in these centers use the latest methods to de-
velop new products and application technologies.

The research center in Frankfurt am Main (Germany) specializes

in discovering new herbicides and developing new herbicidal formu-
lations. Fungicides are the main area of interest at the La Dargoire
research center in Lyon (France). Scientists at the BioScience-
sites in Lyon (France), Ghent (Belgium) and Potsdam (Germany)
are working to improve the agronomic and quality properties of var-
ious crops.

The U.S. research and development sites, which also support the
Americas region, are based in Stilwell (Kansas) and Research
Triangle Park (North Carolina). The Yuki research center near
Tokyo (Japan) conducts research into fungicides, herbicides and
insecticides, mainly for the crops predominantly grown in Asia,
such as rice.
 Yuki

Japan

Bayer CropScience 21
top products

Insecticides: Fungicides:

Herbicides: Seed Treatments:

Bayer
seed Treatment

Gaucho ®

Reg. Trademark Bayer CropScience AG, Germany

New products have recently added strength to our product range.

Examples include the herbicides MaisTer® and Atlantis®, the fun-
gicides Input®, Proline® and Fandango®, the insecticides Calypso®
and Envidor® and the insecticidal seed treatment Poncho®.
By car:
From Frankfurt: Take the A 3 to the “Leverkusen” junction. Then
take the A 1 towards “Düsseldorf Süd” until you arrive at the
“Leverkusen West” junction. Take the A 59 towards “Düsseldorf
Süd”, leave the motorway at the “Monheim Süd” junction and
head for “Leverkusen-Hitdorf”. The route to Bayer CropScience
is signposted from the motorway exit.

From Koblenz: Take the A 1 to the “Leverkusen West” junction.

Then take the A 59 towards “Düsseldorf Süd”, leave the motor-
way at the “Monheim Süd” junction and head for “Leverkusen-
Hitdorf”. The route to Bayer CropScience is signposted from the
motorway exit.

From Düsseldorf: Take the A 46 to the “Düsseldorf Süd” junction.

Then take the A 59 towards “Leverkusen / Köln”, leave the motor-
way at the “Monheim Süd” junction and head for “Leverkusen-
Hitdorf”. The route to Bayer CropScience is signposted from the
motorway exit.
 23

By train:
From Düsseldorf or Cologne station, take the S6 S-Bahn (suburban
rail network) to Langenfeld station (trains run every 20 minutes).
Take a taxi from Langenfeld to Bayer CropScience (approximately
8 kilometers) – we do not recommend continuing the journey by bus.

From “Leverkusen-Mitte” station, take the bus (no. 233) to the

“Alfred-Nobel-Straße” bus-stop (travelling time from Leverkusen to
Bayer CropScience is approximately 25 minutes). From here, it is
10 minutes on foot to Bayer CropScience.

By plane:
Düsseldorf (approximately 45 minutes by car) and Cologne / Bonn
(approximately 40 minutes by car) are the airports closest to Monheim.

Bon voyage!
Corporate Headquarters

Bayer CropScience AG
Alfred-Nobel-Straße 50
D-40789 Monheim am Rhein / Germany

www.bayercropscience.com
Email: info@bayercropscience.com

Published by:
Bayer CropScience AG
Corporate Communications / Media Relations