State Secretary Elisabeth Zehetner visits Kwizda Agro in Leobendorf

Leobendorf, 16 September 2026. Crop protection products are an important part of a high-performing agricultural sector. Kwizda Agro is the only company that develops and produces crop protection products in Austria, combining its own research and development expertise with industrial production. In doing so, the company contributes to independent domestic production and to supplying Austrian agriculture. The framework conditions required to develop the Kwizda Agro production site in Leobendorf competitively and sustainably over the long term were at the center of yesterday’s company visit by State Secretary Elisabeth Zehetner.

Together with owner representative Johannes Kwizda and Site Manager Thomas Salzl, Zehetner toured the production facilities and learned about the development of the site. The discussion that followed focused above all on energy issues: the further expansion of photovoltaic installations on the plant premises, fast and predictable permitting procedures, a high-performance energy infrastructure, and the availability of sufficient green energy for the step-by-step decarbonization of production.

Production in Austria creates security of supply

Kwizda Agro has been producing crop protection products in Leobendorf for more than four decades. Today, a range of formulations for agriculture are developed, produced, filled, and packaged at the site. As the only manufacturer of crop protection products with its own research in Austria, the company holds a special position within the domestic agricultural industry.

From Kwizda Agro’s point of view, competitive production in Austria is therefore not merely a business matter. It also helps to keep development and production expertise as well as value creation in the country, and to reduce dependence on foreign production sites alone. “Our plant in Leobendorf is closely connected to Austrian agriculture. As the only manufacturer of crop protection products with its own research in Austria, we bear a particular responsibility for retaining development and production expertise in the country and for developing our site over the long term. To do that, we need a secure energy supply, high-performance grids, and the ability to expand renewable energy at the site quickly,” says Thomas Salzl, Site Manager of the Kwizda Agro plant in Leobendorf.

More renewable energy for the Leobendorf site

Kwizda Agro intends to further increase the share of renewable energy at the site, with a particular focus on expanding its own photovoltaic installations. In the company’s view, this requires permitting procedures that make investments in renewable energy possible quickly and predictably.

At the same time, the transformation of industrial production cannot be achieved through self-generation alone. For further decarbonization, the site will also need sufficient green energy from the grid in the future. The expansion of renewable electricity generation must therefore keep pace with the expansion of grids and energy infrastructure.

Further decarbonization of the site consequently calls not only for investment by the company, but also for appropriate framework conditions in energy supply, grids, and permitting. State Secretary Elisabeth Zehetner sees this as an important prerequisite for keeping industrial production in Austria over the long term: “Companies like Kwizda Agro show how important industrial expertise and production in Austria are. Particularly in a field that is directly connected to our agriculture, we must make sure that good framework conditions are in place for investment and further development. These include a secure and competitive energy supply, high-performance grids, and fast procedures for the expansion of renewable energy. In this way we strengthen Austria as a business location and at the same time create the conditions for more environmentally friendly production.”

100 years of Kwizda Agro: know-how from Austria

The visit takes place in Kwizda Agro’s anniversary year: in 2026 the Austrian family business is celebrating its 100th anniversary. At the same time, the company is looking ahead to the coming decades. With its corporate strategy “Beyond Growth 2040,” Kwizda Agro is pursuing three central directions of development: expansion, biologicals, and digitalization. The company continues to build up its international presence, invests in biological solutions, and is broadening its digital offering for agriculture.

The Leobendorf production site forms an important industrial basis for this. Here, Kwizda Agro combines decades of experience in crop protection production with modern formulation and production technology. Together with its own research and development expertise, this creates the conditions for developing new solutions and bringing them into industrial application. “100 years of Kwizda Agro show that long-term development always means changing continuously. We want to keep growing internationally, expand biological solutions, and drive digitalization forward. At the same time, we have to develop the industrial basis for this further. A sustainable and reliable energy supply is therefore an essential part of our future strategy for Leobendorf,” says Salzl.

Kwizda Agro therefore also discussed with State Secretary Zehetner which political and infrastructural conditions are needed so that industrial production, decarbonization, and further growth remain compatible with one another in Austria in the future.

About Kwizda Agro

Kwizda Agro is one of the leading providers of chemical and biological crop protection solutions in Austria and part of the Kwizda Group. With 100 years of experience, the company develops innovative active ingredients and produces complex, high-quality formulations at its Leobendorf site. In developing its own products, the company today focuses on purely biological crop protection agents – a clear commitment to sustainability that is firmly anchored in the corporate strategy and consistently advanced at the Leobendorf and Tulln sites. Around 460 employees work for Kwizda Agro in Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain, Hungary, Romania, and the USA. Through an international network, the company supports crop protection users with digital, data-based services for site-appropriate and sustainable crop protection. In this way, Kwizda Agro makes a significant contribution to vibrant crops in agriculture as well as to healthy gardens as places of recreation.

For more information, visit www.kwizda-agro.com.

To download the press release as a PDF file, please click here.

Press Contact:

Kapp Hebein Partner

Michaela Hebein

Email: mh@khpartner.at

Phone: +43 1 2350 422-70

Photo (free of charge for publication, copyright: Fabian Lackner): 

Photo1.jpg:
State Secretary Elisabeth Zehetner visited the Kwizda Agro plant in Leobendorf; from left to right: Florian Zerulla (Teamlead Biological Development, Kwizda Agro), Johannes Kwizda (Management Board, Kwizda Group), Elisabeth Zehetner (State Secretary for Energy, Startups and Tourism at the Federal Ministry of Economy, Energy and Tourism), Thomas Salzl (Manager Operations, Kwizda Agro).

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