DowDupont’s ag division announces new R&D strategy in P.R.
The Agriculture Division of DowDuPont, which was formed by the merger of Dow Chemical and DuPont, announced plans for strategic realignment of its business by combining its resources that will increase Research and Development capacity in Puerto Rico.
“Puerto Rico has been a long partner of ours and we will remain committed to the people of the island,” said José Luis Hernández, global research seed development leader for DowDuPont’s agriculture division.
“Our Salinas location will continue to play an important role in our R&D strategy as it provides year-round research capabilities, allowing us to bring new products to the market faster,” he said.
The R&D capabilities currently at the Dow AgroSciences Research station in Salinas will be consolidated to another site within the DowDuPont Agriculture Division that is also located in that municipality, Hernández said.
The company intends to make future investments in Puerto Rico to upgrade facilities and broaden its presence on the island, although they were not revealed.
“There will be near term site consolidation and job impacts as we address duplicative sites and facilities. Our colleagues in Puerto Rico have been an important part in our quest of developing new ideas to feed the expanding world population,” said Hernández.
“For nearly 30 years, we have worked with talented and experienced coworkers on the island, and we will have job openings in the new R&D group with prioritization for the best qualified internal candidates, aligned with the strategic DowDuPont intent to keep Puerto Rico as an important R&D location,” the executive added.
DowDuPont Agriculture, a business division of DowDuPont, combines the strengths of DuPont Pioneer, DuPont Crop Protection and Dow AgroSciences.
Together, the Agriculture division provides growers around the world with the most complete portfolio in the industry, developed through a robust research pipeline across germplasm, biotech traits and crop protection.
