Bosch & BASF smart farming joint venture gets global green light

The 50/50 joint venture (JV) between Bosch and BASF Digital Farming to globally market and sell smart farming technologies from a single source has received approval from all relevant merger control authorities. The JV has been registered as Bosch BASF Smart Farming (BBSF) GmbH.

A significant milestone, BBSF has since set up its headquarters in Cologne, Germany and appointed experienced managing directors BASF's Silvia Cifre Wibrow and Bosch's Florian Gwosdz to lead the company jointly. The company will distribute its Smart Spraying solution, which Bosch and BASF are developing and testing, to initial markets in North America, South America and Europe. Its Intelligent Planting Solution (IPS) is already commercially available in Brazil and Argentina. It will use the advanced digital agronomic intelligence of BASF's xarvio crop optimization platform to enhance zone-based seeding recommendations in the near future in Brazil.

Smart configuration aiding efficiency

The Smart Spraying solution offers real-time, automated pre-emergence ("green-on-brown") and post-emergence ("green-on-green") weed identification and management day and night. Combining Bosch's high-tech camera sensor technology and software with xarvio's agronomic intelligence enables Smart Spraying in milliseconds to detect weeds in crop rows and spot apply herbicide only where needed. Its unique configuration supports the more efficient use of herbicide, with trials showing herbicide volume savings of 70% are achievable. Higher savings are also possible, with variability depending on individual fields' prevailing field conditions and weed pressure.

Supporting sustainability and biodiversity

"We have reached another important milestone in receiving merger control approval and have made considerable progress in the past few months. We have established the new company together, built the new team and continued to test our products successfully under different climatic conditions with various manufacturers," says Florian Gwosdz, joint managing director of Bosch BASF Smart Farming. "Our Smart Spraying Solution continues to return consistent, positive test results, which clearly shows the combination of our hardware, software and advanced agronomic logic delivers."

"With Smart Spraying, we are bringing a new digital solution to market and new approach to weed management – a volume-optimization model that increases farm profitability through a more precise and efficient use of herbicide," said Silvia Cifre Wibrow, joint managing director of Bosch BASF Smart Farming. "The unique ability for Smart Spraying to see, decide and spray based on agronomic intelligence is not just financially good for farmers, but it's good for the environment, sustainability and biodiversity."

Bosch BASF Smart Farming remains on track to launch the Smart Spraying solution in limited numbers by the end of this year.