New Agricultural Research Center Starts Operation in the U.S. Midwest

Sep. 21, 2017

Valent U.S.A. LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Chemical, has completed construction and started operation of a new field testing station, the Midwest Agricultural Research Center, in the US state of Illinois.
At the new facility, field testing will be conducted on crop protection products for row crops such as soybean, corn, and wheat, which are widely grown in the Midwestern region of the United States. Valent U.S.A. plans to expand the size of the testing site according to the progress of research and development programs.

So far, Valent U.S.A. has conducted research and development of crop protection products at the Technical Center in California and the Mid-South Agricultural Research Center, its field testing station in Mississippi. With the opening of the new testing station in Illinois, Valent U.S.A. will accelerate product development, as it can conduct field testing under a wider range of climatic and environmental conditions and carry out various tests in-house instead of outsourcing them. The new testing station will help promote the use of crop protection products as it has facilities that provide hands-on experience, such as training facilities for growers and a laboratory for demonstration tests of crop protection products.

Sumitomo Chemical has research and development facilities for crop protection products in Japan, the US, France and Brazil, through which the Company is making constant efforts to create new active ingredients and develop new formulations suited for the environment in each region. In addition to the newly opened testing station, Sumitomo Chemical is currently working to reinforce its existing research facilities in Japan and the US, in order to further strengthen its global research and development capabilities.

About the Midwest Agricultural Research Center

Name	The Valent Midwest Agricultural Research Center
Location	near Champaign, Illinois, USA

About Valent U.S.A.

Name	Valent U.S.A. LLC
Location	Walnut Creek, California, USA
Establishment	April 1988
President	Andrew Lee
Business	Research and development, production and sale of crop protection products

Contact

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TEL: +81-3-5543-5102 FAX: +81-3-5543-5901