BASF Cultivation Of Amflora Potatoes To Be Lower In 2011

BASF Plant Science, the plant biotechnology unit of German chemicals company BASF SE (BAS.XE), will produce significantly smaller amounts of the genetically modified potato Amflora in 2011 than last year, according to a company statement late last month.

Unlike last year, BASF won't provide any material for the starch industry in 2011, a BASF spokesman told Dow Jones Newswires, as the company plans to concentrate on increasing seed stock for cultivation in subsequent years.

BASF Plant Science is to cultivate two hectares of land in Ueplingen, Germany, and around 15 hectares in Sweden in 2011, the company said, down from about 14 hectares in Germany, around 80 hectares in Sweden, and around 150 hectares in the Czech Republic in 2010.

In September, BASF came under fire from the European Commission after seeds from a new strain of genetically modified potato, Amadea, were found in a field in Sweden authorized only to grow Amflora.