RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC, October 10, 2025 – If you filled a grocery cart with household staples - rice, bread, corn, sugar, oils, meat, and dairy - the total cost of that cart has been climbing faster than the overall cost of living since 20201. Consumers everywhere are feeling the strain on their budget, with food inflation now ranking among the top global worries2. The result: a growing sense of uncertainty3.
While food prices depend on many economic and environmental factors, having a robust and reliable food supply chain is a critical part of keeping food both accessible and affordable. Innovations in agriculture play a key role in keeping food flowing, supporting farmers to become more productive and resilient as they carry out the Biggest Job on Earth.
Innovation That Meets the Moment
The pressures driving food prices higher today call for new solutions, and research is already delivering them. Seed genetics to better cope with weather extremes, agricultural chemistries to defend against emerging pests, precision agricultural tools, biologicals and digital platforms that help farmers do more with less.
“We need to embrace innovation, and I don't just mean innovation in terms of gene editing and new technologies,” says Jack Bobo, Executive Director of the University of California, Los Angeles Rothman Family Institute for Food Studies in the USA, and a global expert on food systems and innovation. “Innovation can come in the form of crop practices and management practices, as well as regenerative and other approaches.”
BASF Agricultural Solutions invests around €1 billion annually in agricultural R&D, providing farmers with solutions for crop protection, seeds and traits and digital insights. “These are scientifically proven, practical innovations giving farmers the ability to produce safe and affordable food,” says Livio Tedeschi, President, BASF Agricultural Solutions. “That’s how innovative solutions contribute to climate-resilient farming and food availability.” Many of the latest innovations from BASF are designed to support agricultural productivity, including:
· Weather resilience technologies like InVigor® Gold delivers heat tolerance and yield stability, allowing these hybrids to grow in hotter and drier environments and outyielding traditional canola by 8%.
· Pest defense through the Nemasphere™ nematode resistance trait boosts soybean yield potential by 8%, protecting against soybean cyst nematode (SCN), the number one yield-robbing pest in soybeans in the United States.
· Sustainable productivity through digital platforms like xarvio® Digital Farming , enabling a “more with less” approach that helps farmers optimize inputs, reduce impact, and meet sustainability requirements while maintaining strong yields.
No single technology or company can secure the food supply alone, but by accelerating agricultural innovation and ensuring solutions are available for farmers, increased agricultural productivity supports a robust food supply.
Investing in Innovation to Support Food Security
“Investing in agricultural innovation is one of the most effective strategies to address food insecurity and drive economic resilience,” says Cindy van Rijswick at Rabobank, the Dutch multinational bank specializing in sustainable interests. “Every euro allocated to smart farming tools, resilient crop technologies and supply chain optimization delivers outsized returns—strengthening rural economies, stabilizing food markets, and enhancing food affordability.”
Investment in innovation influences food prices within the broader food system. The United Nation’s 2025 State of Food Insecurity (SOFI) report puts the role of R&D investment into perspective: “Reducing the probability of future food price inflation events requires sustained investment in agriculture - including research and development, trade routes, and storage - to improve market access, strengthen food system resilience and enhance productivity sustainably.”
When Supply is Strong, Food Becomes More Affordable
Agricultural innovation cannot eliminate volatility, but it helps secure supply. And when supply is strong, food becomes more affordable. That is where investment in resilient crops, digital farming tools and sustainable productivity makes a difference: by supporting farmers to feed more people, more reliably. “Food production has increased faster than population growth,” says Jack Bobo. Although many regions, particularly in the developing world, still face serious barriers that make access and affordability a persistent challenge, there is progress. “What we see as a challenge is actually an indication of things moving in the right direction.”
Always read and follow label directions. InVigor and xarvio are registered trademarks of BASF. Nemasphere is a trademark of BASF. © 2025 BASF Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
1“Global food price inflation has significantly outpaced headline inflation since 2020.” State of Food Insecurity in the World 2025 | United Nations
2In their “What worries the world survey”, asking 20,000 participants in 29 countries, Inflation was one of the top three concerns among 33 percent of participants in July 2024. What Worries the World – July 2024 | Ipsos
3“Today, the world has reopened, but the era of uncertainty and its impact on consumers linger.” State of the Consumer trends report 2025 | McKinsey
About BASF’s Agricultural Solutions division
Everything we do, we do for the love of farming. Farming is fundamental to provide enough healthy and affordable food for a rapidly growing population, while reducing environmental impacts. That’s why we are working with partners and experts to integrate sustainability criteria into all business decisions. With €919 million in 2024, we invest in a strong R&D pipeline, combining innovative thinking with practical action in the field. Our solutions are purpose-designed for different crop systems. Connecting seeds and traits, crop protection products, digital tools and sustainability approaches, to help deliver the best possible outcomes for farmers, growers and our other stakeholders along the value chain. With teams in the lab, field, office and in production, we do everything in our power to build a sustainable future for agriculture. In 2024, our division generated sales of €9.8 billion. For more information, please visit www.agriculture.basf.com or our social media channels.
About BASF
BASF Corporation, headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, is the North American affiliate of BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF has approximately 16,000 employees in North America and had sales of $19.7 billion in 2024. For more information about BASF’s North American operations, visit www.basf.com/us.
At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. Our ambition: We want to be the preferred chemical company to enable our customers’ green transformation. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. Around 112,000 employees in the BASF Group contribute to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio comprises, as core businesses, the segments Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, and Nutrition & Care; our standalone businesses are bundled in the segments Surface Technologies and Agricultural Solutions. BASF generated sales of €65.3 billion in 2024. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchange in Frankfurt (BAS) and as American Depositary Receipts (BASFY) in the United States. Further information at www.basf.com.