This year, we celebrate the extraordinary milestone of 111 years of SeedGrowth by Bayer around the world. Team Bayer brought some cake and birthday candles to Nampo Cape in Bredasdorp, Western Cape, to celebrate this milestone!

Since 1914, our SeedGrowth legacy has stood as a testament to innovation, dedication, and a shared vision for a more sustainable agricultural future. Bayer pioneered the concept that would transform farming practices: the method and portfolio of seed treatments that is now known as SeedGrowth. What began as a bold idea, protecting and enhancing seeds before they were planted in the soil, has evolved into a global standard of excellence.

For generations, farmers across the world have relied on our seed treatment products, our expertise and our stewardship to nurture their crops from the very beginning.

The economic significance of seed treatments is notable: Overall, you achieve lower input costs, promote plant health, which leads to less fertilizer use, less pest/disease damage at early and vital stages of plant growth, and overall faster germination. This leads to less turnover time or time in the field (lower production costs). Prevention is better than cure: The faster a crop can grow with less input and produce higher yields due to protection at the seed level, the less a grower has to implement reactive chemical applications.

“This journey of 111 years is not merely a story of scientific advancement . It is story of partnership with growers, distributors, researchers, and farmers. It is a story of trust, earned through consistency, responsibility, and tireless pursuit of solutions that improve both productivity and sustainability. And above all, it is a story of purpose, to help feed a growing world while respecting the natural resources on which we all depend,” says Rodney Ndou, Bayer lead for SeedGrowth Business Enablement in Africa.

MORE ABOUT SEEDGROWTH

SeedGrowth by Bayer represents a holistic approach, integrating:

1.seed treatment products
2.application equipment
3.services

Together, these three pillars form the backbone of the system designed to support farmers at the beginning phase, ensuring stronger emergence, healthy growth, and better harvest through even seed treatments.

Services include:

•Active ingredients loading test
•Machinery calibration
•Stewardship support

LATEST ADDITION TO SEEDGROWTH PORTFOLIO

The South African SeedGrowth portfolio has a strong focus on insecticides and fungicides: protecting the seed before and after germination against numerous pests and disease, giving the young plant the best chance to perform in the early growth stages.

The current local portfolio includes trusted brands like Redigo®, Gaucho® Flexx 600 FS and Create®.
Developing new, effective products for the portfolio ensures that farmers have access to the latest technology in the pursuit of healthy, profitable crops.

The latest addition to the product portfolio is EverGol® Energy, a new fungicide seed treatment that provides soybean, wheat, and maize crops with protection against some of the most important seed- and soil-borne diseases at a low application rate.

It was commercially launched some two years ago in South Africa. The product performed exceptionally well in trials compared to competitor products, and after two seasons in the South African market, the response from farmers and growth in sales are proof that this effective solution unlocks value for producers.
With its combination of three actives, EverGol® Energy provides three-way action by helping to grow a healthier, more robust root system, leading to enhanced crop emergence and establishment as well as a yield advantage.
EverGol® Energy contains Prothioconazole (triazole), Metalaxyl (phenylamide) and Penflufen (pyrazole carboxamide).

These three active ingredients are from three different fungicide groups, which allows for excellent resistance management. The unique Group 7 active ingredient, Penflufen, allows for improved root growth. “With EverGol® Energy, crops will always emerge much faster and quicker thanks to the new active ingredient, Penflufen. Currently SeedGrowth by Bayer is the only one with this active ingredient in a seed treatment,” says Ndou.

Formulation plays a huge role, and its excellent plantability due to no planter plate build-up and low dust-off properties ensures ease of use and better environmental safety.

The undiluted product has a very good shelf life, with minimal sedimentation when stored according to label recommendations.

“As we look back with pride, we also look ahead with determination. Agriculture faces challenges that are more complex than ever, climate change, resource scarcity and the pressing need to feed nearly 10 billion people by 2050. These challenges call for courage, collaboration and innovation and Bayer SeedGrowth, with its 111 years of expertise is uniquely positioned to lead the way,” Ndou adds.