b'plant mitochondrial DNA. Researchers used their technique to(BYDV) in the absence of being able to use a neonicotinoid create four new lines of rice and three new lines of rapeseed. seed treatment this autumn, has been launched by Syngenta. Developed for use with the companys pyrethroid insecticide, Hallmark Zeon, the new app, BYDV Assist, alerts users once a Sunflower is an important and fast-growing crop sector, espe- spraying threshold is reached for given locations. This is based cially in Europe, the worlds largest sunflower market valued aton cumulative daily temperatures reaching 170 day degrees after around $1.48 billion. To enter the sunflower seed market and com- crop emergence. plement its existing portfolio for sunflower, BASF has signed a dis-tribution agreement with Euralis Semences. The hybrid products will include BASFs Clearfield Plus technology, combining state- BUSINESS NEWSof-the-art genetics and crop protection. First market launchesCorteva Agriscience and Evogene announced that Corteva will of sunflower hybrids are expected in 2020. make an investment in Evogenes agriculture biologicals subsidi-ary, Lavie Bio (Lavie). The transaction includes the exchange of all shares of Cortevas wholly owned subsidiary Taxon Biosciences RESEARCH NEWS along with an equity investment by Corteva in Lavie.Scientists led by the National Laboratory of Genomics for Biodiversity (LANGEBIO) in Mexico, Texas Tech University, and the University at Buffalo in the USA have sequenced the avo- Inari announced the closing of its $89 million Series C financ-cado genome. The scientists report their findings in a paper pub- ing, bringing the companys total funding to date to $144 million. lished in the Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesFlagship Pioneering, which founded Inari in 2016 to challenge (PNAS). The study sheds light on the origins of the fruit and laysthe economic and environmental realities of modern agriculture, the groundwork for future improvements to farming. was joined in the funding round by Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), global Asian-based investor EDBI and Acre Venture Partners as well as other investors.PEOPLE NEWSEast-West Seed Company founder Simon Groot is being rec-ognized as the recipient of the 2019 World Food Prize, oftenThe Climate Corporation (Climate) announced new platform thought of as the Nobel Prize in agriculture. During the pastpartnership agreements between the companys industry-lead-four decades, Groot has successfully developed a dynamic,ing Climate FieldView digital agriculture platform and two smallholder-centric tropical vegetable seed industry, startingCanadian-based ag-tech companies, Effigis Geo-Solutions and in Southeast Asia and spreading throughout Asia, Africa andCroptimistic Technology Inc. (Croptimistic). With these new Latin America. Groot will again be recognized at the World Foodagreements, mutual farmer customers can access new insights Prize ceremony on Oct. 17 in Des Moines, Iowa. from their FieldView data through integration with Effigiss FieldApex fertilizer management platform and Croptimistics SWAT MAPS (Soil, Water, and Topography) technology.The International Seed Testing Association (ISTA) wel-comed its new president, Steve Jones of Saskatoon, Sask. Jones is an employee of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency whereThe International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium he serves as diagnostic test supervisor for the Seed Certification(IWGSC) is pleased to announce that BASF has joined the Testing Unit in the Seed Science & Technology Section (SSTS)organization as a sponsoring partner. The IWGSC is an inter-of the Saskatoon Laboratory.national, collaborative consortium of wheat growers, plant scientists, and public and private breeders dedicated to the development of genomic resources for wheat scientists and The European Seed Association (ESA) has changed its namebreeders. These resources aim at facilitating the production of to Euroseeds. The goal is to present Euroseeds as refreshedwheat varieties better adapted to environmental challenges, with and with a more consistent name, better aligning all the projectshigher yields, enhanced nutritional quality, and improved sus-and services under the same look and feel. Euroseeds also planstainability. The program is establishing the scientific foundation to update the website technologies and integrate all the contentto urgently drive innovation in wheat production. management systems in one easy-to-use platform.Scientists of the James Hutton Institute will meet with PRODUCT NEWS European colleagues to discuss all scientific aspects of diversify-Iteris Inc. announced that KWS SAAT will add Iteris ClearAging agricultural and food systems, on the practical implementa-environmental intelligence to its digital farming platform. Undertion of crop diversification in value chains and on policy-related the terms of the software-as-a-service agreement, ClearAg willissues, during the first European Conference on Crop provide location-specific environmental intelligence throughDiversification (Budapest, Hungary, 18-21 September 2019). its application programming interface (API) to KWS. KWS willThe conference will address the following themes: benefits and integrate ClearAgs environmental intelligence into its digitalpractical experiences of crop diversification; incentives to pro-farming platform, CultiVent, which is used by agronomists andmote diversification along value chains; approaches to assess growers across more than 70 countries in Europe and Asia.the performance of diversified cropping systems at various scales; approaches that foster crop diversification and accom-pany actors when transitioningtowards sustainable systems; A new app designed to help boost the timeliness of insecti- and policy recommendations to make systems more disposed to cide spraying against aphid vectors of Barley yellow dwarf viruscrop diversification.EUROPEAN-SEED.COMIEUROPEAN SEED I 69'