BASF Agricultural Solutions is doubling down on its global canola ambitions.
The farming and crop sciences major has announced a €17 million investment to expand and transform its Canola Breeding Centre of Innovation in Saskatoon, with construction set to begin this spring.
The move is aimed squarely at bolstering BASF’s dominance in canola innovation, sharpening its competitive edge in crop genetics, and accelerating the delivery of next-generation hybrids to farmers worldwide.
For three decades, InVigor hybrid canola has been a cornerstone of productivity gains for growers. Now, BASF is scaling up—injecting advanced automation and cutting-edge breeding technologies into its operations to dramatically speed up innovation cycles.
“Canola is a strategic crop for our Agricultural Solutions business, playing a crucial role for Canadian farmers and supporting food production worldwide,” said Livio Tedeschi, President, BASF Agricultural Solutions.
“This investment underscores our commitment to advancing our entire portfolio of canola. As the global leader in canola production and innovation, BASF is proud to invest in its future innovation capabilities.”
At the heart of the expansion is a major upgrade: precision-controlled growth environments and high-throughput automated breeding pipelines designed to fast-track genetic gains.
“These enhancements are critical to implementing genomic selection at scale, enabling faster, more precise breeding decisions and accelerating genetic gain across all InVigor programs.
"By increasing breeding throughput and improving predictive capabilities, BASF can shorten innovation cycles and deliver improved hybrids to the market more efficiently”, explained Doreen Schachtschabel, Senior Vice President, R&D for Seeds & Traits.
The project also includes a new state-of-the-art research-grade glasshouse, purpose-built to power the next wave of hybrid development.
By expanding its Canadian research footprint, BASF is positioning itself to deliver higher-yielding, more resilient crops with stronger disease resistance—at a time when global food security pressures are intensifying.
With construction about to break ground, the message is clear: BASF is investing now to lead the future of canola.
