Yesterday, DuPont announced two cotton acquisitions in India to enhance its product lineup and strengthen its growing business in that country.
DuPont business Pioneer Hi-Bred has purchased the cotton seed business of Nandi Seeds, based in Mehboob Nagar, Andhra Pradesh, India, and acquired cotton germplasm from Nagarjuna Seeds, based in Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India.
“These acquisitions will help us enter the cotton seed market here and meet the needs of Indian farmers who grow more than 9 million hectares of cotton each year – more than anywhere else in the world,” said K.V. Subbarao, country manager -- Pioneer India. “Cotton is a natural fit for Pioneer in India. It completes our high-value product and service offering to farmers and enables us to further strengthen our growing seed business here.”
Pioneer currently offers corn, rice, pearl millet, sunflower and mustard in the Indian market and has grown revenue 40% annually for the last five years to reach about $70 million in 2008.
“Agriculture, food and nutrition is a key growth segment for DuPont in India, and these acquisitions are part of the company’s strategy to expand its presence here,” said Balvinder Kalsi, president -- DuPont India. “We are positioning our market-driven science company to grow at a faster pace by leveraging opportunities that will enable us to contribute to India’s sustainable economic development.”
DuPont’s History in India
The DuPont association with India extends back to the beginning of DuPont, when the first shipment of raw materials for black powder (used for explosives) was imported from India into the U.S. in 1802.
More than 200 years later, DuPont India has more than 1,000 employees and six production facilities in three locations for DuPont Crop Protection, DuPont Engineering Polymers, DuPont Refinish and Pioneer® hybrid seeds.
Pioneer has been selling hybrid seed in India for more than 30 years and supports the sale of its products to more than 1.5 million customers in India.
The cotton acquisitions are the latest in a series of investments by DuPont in India. Pioneer recently announced the opening of a new corn research center in Bangalore to speed delivery of new, improved products to market and meet the growing demand for food and feed.
DuPont also recently established the DuPont Knowledge Center (DKC) in Hyderabad, India, which includes the Biotechnology Research Center. This biotech center is the first integrated agriculture and industrial biotechnology research center for DuPont outside the U.S.
For more information about these acquisitions, read the news release.
