Simon Thorsten Wiebusch to Succeed D Narain as President of Bayer South Asia & Vice Chairman, MD & CEO of Bayer CropScience Ltd

Bayer today announced, that after more than 25 years of service, D Narain (D), the current President of Bayer South Asia; Vice Chairman, Managing Director & CEO of Bayer CropScience Limited (BCSL), and the Global Head of Smallholder Farming for Bayer, will retire by end of November 2023.

Simon-Thorsten Wiebusch (Simon) will take over as President, Bayer South Asia and as Vice Chairman, Managing Director & CEO of Bayer CropScience Ltd (BCSL) on November 1, 2023. Simon will take on these new responsibilities, in addition to his current role as Country Division Head (CDH) of India, Bangladesh & Sri Lanka (IBSL) cluster in Crop Science. 

Simon moved to India in December 2018 as Chief Operating Officer of IBSL cluster and in partnership with D established the cluster as a strong growth engine for smallholders before being appointed the Country Division Head (CDH) at the beginning of 2022.

Simon started his career with Bayer in 1998 from the company’s headquarters in Germany. He built his professional experience by working in multiple divisions of the company across various geographies like Germany, Eastern Europe, and Asia.

Before taking over his current role in India, he was the Chief Executive Officer for Bayer’s Crop Science Division in South-East Asia. Simon holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Applied Sciences in Essen, Germany, and an MBA from the University of Bradford.

He has more than two decades of experience in the agriculture industry. He currently lives in Mumbai with his wife Tanja and their children and will continue to operate out of Bayer’s office in Thane, Maharashtra.

D Narain (D), with a career spanning nearly three and half decades in global agriculture, has passionately strived to bring innovative solutions for the upliftment of smallholder farmers globally and with efforts over the last 5 years, has established the global smallholder business as integral to the long-term growth of the company with a commitment of delivering outcomes of improving smallholder incomes and livelihoods.

Over his entire global career, D has also played a pioneering role in bringing financing and risk management models to farmers across the world. In his most recent role, D led the successful integration of Monsanto and has positioned Bayer South Asia as one of the fastest growing regions for the company, a major global talent hub, and expanded ‘Centres of Excellence’ to support multiple global teams.

D also with his outstanding ability to lead external engagement and thought leadership to shape the industry, leaves behind a strong network of external relationships and partners for Bayer globally.

Over the coming months, D Narain will work with his successors in India and Germany to facilitate a seamless transition before he retires from Bayer. Even after retirement, D will continue to collaborate with Bayer to expand its partnerships and thought leadership engagements with stakeholders, aimed at improving smallholder incomes and sustainability.