The OpenAg Research & Innovation Center | UPL Corp

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The OpenAg Research & Innovation Center is UPL’s global platform for evaluating and accelerating technologies that address real grower challenges.

Working across a connected network of laboratories and field capabilities worldwide, the Center brings together scientific rigour, commercial discipline and collaboration to deliver scalable agricultural solutions.

100+

Technology evaluations and partnerships

Global R&D
ecosystem across

5 regions

Rapid screening and validation capabilities

Why the OpenAg
Center Exists

Agricultural innovation is evolving rapidly, and solving today’s grower challenges requires more than traditional research and development. It requires collaboration, scientific rigour and the ability to evaluate new technologies quickly and objectively.

The OpenAg Center was established to strengthen how UPL identifies, evaluates and accelerates technologies that can deliver real value for growers. Working across a globally connected network of laboratories and field capabilities, the OpenAg Center combines scientific expertise in its R&D efforts with a structured, broad evaluation that includes all aspects of commercial discipline to ensure innovation investment is focused on solutions that can scale.

Unlike traditional R&D models that focus on a single technology platform, the OpenAg Center evaluates opportunities agnostically, working with both internal teams and external partners to identify the most promising innovations and bring them to market faster.

Seed Treatments

A Global R&D Ecosystem

The OpenAg Research & Innovation Center operates within a globally connected R&D ecosystem spanning laboratories and field stations across North America, Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia.

This network brings together scientific expertise, technology platforms and regional insights to evaluate and develop solutions that address key grower needs. By working as one integrated system, UPL can test technologies across environments, accelerate validation and ensure solutions are ready to scale globally.

NPP Laboratory (7)

Global OpenAg R&D Center (1)

NPP Laboratory (7)

NPP Laboratory St. Malo, France

Saint-Malo is a 100% women-dedicated team for exploring and evaluating biosolutions

NPP Laboratory Cary, USA

A global state-of-the-art research facility focused on understanding physiological modalities to advance natural solutions

NPP Laboratory Ramos Arizpe, Mexico

A global research state-of-the-art facility focused on advancing natural solutions through scientific and applied excellence

NPP Laboratory Ituverava, Brazil

Focused on delivering innovative microorgansims based crop protection solutions

NPP Laboratory Pretoria, RSA

Specializing in development and distribution of microbial and micronutrient-based biostimulants and innovative nutrition to support crop health and stimulate growth

NPP Laboratory Bangalore, India

NPP owns the proprietary technology of microbial fermentation with a diverse microbial culture collection and unique fermentation process for development of new biocontrol and plant and soil health solutions

NPP Laboratory Pau, France

Global OpenAg R&D Center (1)

Global OpenAg R&D Center - USA

45,000 square foot facility in North Carolina that serves as the hub for all UPL Corp. product development.

How We Work

Our approach combines scientific rigour, global collaboration and commercial discipline to accelerate innovation.

Customer Focus

Solutions begin with clearly defined grower pain points. Marketing signs off on strategy to ensure strong market pull-through.

Win-Win-Win

Value must be clear for the grower, the collaborator and UPL from the outset.

Building Teams

Global teams collaborate transparently to solve grower challenges without platform or regional bias.

Execution Excellence

Scientific rigour drives robust solutions delivered through disciplined execution.

How We Evaluate Technologies

Every technology is evaluated through a structured framework designed to ensure scientific validity, regulatory feasibility and commercial value.

Does
it work?

Is the material effective against defined grower pain points at feasible use rates?

Is it
registrable?

Are there regulatory barriers that could prevent registration in key markets?

Can we
make it?

Can the material be produced at scale with freedom to operate from an intellectual property perspective?

Can we
make money?

Do the commercial metrics support development and successful market adoption?

Strategic
Fit?

Does the solution align with UPL’s strategic priorities and portfolio?

Our Stage-Gate Innovation Process

Technologies move through a structured stage-gate process designed to validate performance, confirm commercial viability and ensure regulatory feasibility.

Evaluation

Evaluation

Early validation of scientific performance and alignment with grower needs.

Validation

Validation

Expanded testing, regulatory review and commercial feasibility assessment.

Development

Development

Business case confirmation, formulation development and regulatory preparation.

Commercialisation

Commercialisation

Manufacturing scale-up, regulatory approval and market launch.

At each stage, technologies progress only when scientific performance, regulatory feasibility and commercial criteria are met.

Partner With the OpenAg Center

The OpenAg Research & Innovation Center collaborates with universities, startups, technology companies and research institutions to evaluate promising innovations.

We prioritise opportunities that demonstrate:

proof of concept or validation data
clear grower value
a defined pathway to scale
alignment with UPL’s strategic priorities

Collaboration is built on transparency, shared goals and disciplined execution.

Submit Your Technology

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DISCLAIMER

“UPL and its subsidiaries have made every attempt to ensure accuracy of the information provided on this website. However, this is a global webpage with access to different geographies for wider reach and greater awareness of UPL. In the course of doing the same, UPL has used Weglot translator plugin to cover the language of this website from English to select regional languages.

UPL therefore, does not accept any responsibility or liability on the nature, standard or the accuracy of the translation and cannot take responsibility for any type of inaccurate contextual meaning in the event of a mismatch from English to a regional language.”