Mei 2014
82
DuPont Pioneer
inaugurates first phaseof R62million investment
A
n insectory, which is the first
completed stage of the DuPont
Pioneer Africa technology hub,
was inaugurated on 26 March this
year atDuPont’s research station inDelmas.
Although this hub will be centred in South
Africa, itwill compriseanetworkof research
facilities and testing locations across the
country and the rest of Africa. This hub
will be comparable to similar hubs DuPont
Pioneer has inChina, Brazil and India.
Itwill beaimedat benefiting thecommercial
as well as the small scale farmers. It will
make use of the latest molecular and other
plant breeding technologies and cutting
edge insect and disease work will be done
here. “These technologies will shorten
the breeding cycles and improve accuracy
towards targets, including resistance to
drought, insects, disease pressures as well
as improved yields, even if a producer has
not used all the fertilisation and nutrients
that are required,” Mrs Pam Chitenhe
(regional director: DuPont Pioneer, Africa)
explained.
Among the guests at the official opening of
the insectory in Delmas were some of the
company’s key partners, customers and
collaborators. “When we as a company
come together with you, we talk about our
core values, because you are the ones that
hold us accountable and make sure that
when we deliver, we are actually living our
core values,” Chitenhe said.
DuPont Pioneer’s four core values are as
follow:
Employees need to work in a safe and
healthy environment as they operate at
thedifferent DuPont Pioneer facilities.
Whatever procedures are put in place
at DuPont Pioneer’s plant facilities and
offices it must ensure the protection of
the environment.
Everyperson that isdealtwithmust feel
respected.
It is critical that in all of our conduct we
are ethical.
According toMr Tony Esmeraldo (director:
DuPontPioneerBusinessUnit,SouthAfrica),
DuPont Pioneer has a good regime in terms
of policies and procedures that helps staff
to be safe in the workplace. “We focus on
the mission, the pledge of safety and what
the responsibility and commitment of an
employee is to be safe in the work place,”
he said.
Mr Rikus Schoeman (marketing manager:
DuPont Pioneer South Africa) summarised
the pledge of DuPont Pioneer as follows:
“There is no amount of product or dollar/
rand of profit or any task to be completed
that is worth an injury to any person or
environment.” According toMr Ian Hudson
(president: DuPont Pioneer Europe, Middle
East and Africa) no other region in the
world has navigated the recent financial
crisis and shocks that we’ve had over the
last few years, the way that most of Africa
has. “Our future in this region will rest on
our innovation, expertise and our ability to
collaborate, to solve some of the pressing
issues of today and in the years to come,”
he said.
Mr Paul Schickler (president: DuPont
Pioneer) said that the opening of this
technologyhub isameaningful step forward
by addressing food security. “We are
stepping up to the agricultural challenges
that lie ahead of us in the next 30 to 40
years.Wehave thus identified threeareas in
whichwe canmake a difference – they are:
Making sure that food security is addressed
globally, reducingour dependenceon fossil
fuels and protecting both people and the
environment,” he said.
In 2014 DuPont Pioneer will also make the
next step in building up a footprint of this
technology hub. “We will do it by adding
precision phenotype incapability that will
focus on drought. Monocular breeding
technology will also be used at this centre,
to improve breeding capabilities and to
bring products to the market; better and
faster thanwewould otherwise have done.
In 2017wewill complete this investment to
serve as the technology centre for South
Africa and for the rest of sub-Saharan
Africa,” he explained.
According to Mrs Ellen Kullman, DuPont
chair and chief executive officer, the
partnership between DuPont Pioneer and
Pannar is not only going to create a much
stronger organisation for South Africa, but
also across Africa. “Local breeding and high
yielding hybrids for producers is the goal
and integration is going to create an exciting
future.”
DuPont Pioneer is all about science and
innovation. “Our scientific capabilities are
the core of what we are andwe use them to
connect to the market place in such a way
that creates success for our customers. At
the same time we’ve come to understand
what the connection isbetweenour science
and the agricultural challenges and howwe
can help to create a stronger world going
forward. Our sciencemakes a difference in
food, fuel and protecting the environment
and its people,” Kullman said.
RELEVANT
RUTHSCHULTZ,
SAGraan/Grain
contributor
(In front from left to right) Paul Schickler, IanHudson, PamChitenhe andEllenKullman, alongwith
the rest of the guests, were taken on a tour through the insectory after it was officially opened by
Ellen.
Photo: JeremyMunton-Jackson
