Dear readers of European Seed,
Over the past year we have shared hundreds of stories with you. Some were well read, some a bit less, and some just made your hearts beat a bit faster.
From 10 to 1, here is our list of best viewed stories:
10: The Future Only Works Together: New Technologies and Modern Plant Breeding for Greater Sustainability
Month: Sept. 2022
Burgeoning populations make high-yielding harvests more crucial than ever for securing the global food supply. At the same time, agriculture faces the challenge of cultivating land sustainably in times of increasingly scarce resources. Developing resilient plants with improved tolerance to heat, cold and other abiotic environmental factors is an important part of mastering this challenge. KWS shares their innovations PhenoFactory (making the water content of plants visible) and ClimaCONTROL3 (a new grain corn variety with improved drought tolerance), helping farmers to secure their harvests, and making an important contribution to implementing sustainable climate protection measures and improving climate adaptability.
9: CSAT, We Develop the Seed Treatments You Need!
Month: April 2022
In April 2022 Corteva’s CSAT was inaugurated in Aussonne, France. The company knew it was necessary to build such a centre in Europe (after U.S. and Brazil) because of the significantly large EMEA seed treatment market. At the same time, they were facing difficulties with seed treatment restrictions on the continent, so it was important to have an Expertise Center to find new solutions for their customers. Those customers will be supported with different services, that will bring value to their business and more flexibility for the day-to-day challenges!
8: We’re All Peas in a Pod
Month: March 2022
On 20 July 2022, it was 200 years since Gregor Mendel was born, and this was reason to celebrate! It was through Mendel’s insights that we were able to greatly expand our understanding of the complexities of genetic inheritance. And that understanding led to the development of new experimental methods, more efficient plant breeding, and much better plant varieties. Plant breeders all around the world will continue to develop higher yielding plant varieties, with better resistances to pests and diseases, higher nutritional content, drought tolerance, and much more.
7: Sorghum: An Alternative to Pig Feed Thanks to Its Nutritional Potential
Month: June 2022
The nutritional potential of sorghum as pig feed is great. First of all, the protein content is two to three per cent higher than corn. In addition, sorghum is poor in tannins, and as you know, tannins reduce the digestibility of protein. One major challenge is that farmers are not yet fully aware of the many benefits of growing sorghum. So, already back in 2018, Lidea published a good and detailed 28-page reference guide about the many benefits of using sorghum as animal feed. And in September 2022 an updated version of that guide was published.
6: Popeye Was Right! Creating New Varieties in One of the Most Nutritious Vegetables
Month: Feb. 2022
He was right, Popeye! He knew all along that spinach is one of the most nutritious vegetables consumed worldwide with lots of health benefits. The crop is an excellent source of crucial minerals, vitamins, plant proteins, fibres and omega-3s. Apart from this, scientific studies show that in humans, spinach is known to boost immune levels, aid in skin care, regulate blood pressure and lots more.
To learn more about what it takes to develop new spinach varieties, European Seed spoke with spinach breeders of seven of the major spinach breeding companies in the world.
5: Women’s Finals in England, Homeland of Football and Turf Perfection
Month: July 2022
In July 2022, it was time for football, and England set the scene for the 13th UEFA European Women’s Championship. The tournament offered 31 matches between Europe’s best women national football teams and the expectations for the pitch quality is sky high being in the homeland of football and turf maintenance. DLF shows that their new 4turf¬® tetraploid perennial ryegrasses are gaining ground in the football stadiums, providing better stress tolerance and fast establishment which provide the safety net in the turf mixture.
4: Fake News Throughout History
Month: Sept. 2022
European Seed has put together a series of articles on Myths, Fake News, Misinformation and Disinformation. In these articles, we dive deeper into the matter and put the spotlight on various aspects of myths and fake news. In this specific article, we look at history, as there are many well documented examples of myths and fake news throughout the centuries.
3: How We Built a Global Brand
Month: June 2022
Take a look at Acadian Plant Health™ which started as a seaweed company, harvesting a type of seaweed known by its scientific name Ascophyllum nodosum. ¬†They harvest it from the North Atlantic, extract its active ingredient for use in their biostimulant products, and provide it to a variety of industry partners who use it in their crop protection and fertilizer products they provide to their grower customers. They have now become an authority on biostimulants and have proven that this category of crop protection product is not snake oil, but an effective tool to help growers prosper even when faced by the challenges of climate change and more.
2: The 20 Most Climate Friendly Companies Over 2021
Month: April 2022
In this article we put the spotlight on the European seed companies that are working hard and making great efforts to mitigate climate change. The article showed us that many seed companies are, in fact, already doing a lot, are well-aware of the threat and are taking an active role in doing their part to reduce the effects of climate change. Not just through their new varieties but also in the fields of renewable energy, recycling, and much more.
1: 20 Most Famous Plant Breeders
Month: July 2022
In 2022 it has been two centuries since Gregor Mendel was born, and it seems appropriate to look at some of the people who have made a bigger than normal contribution to plant breeding and have enriched our world and our plates with new, better, higher yielding and more delicious plant varieties.
Nowadays, plant breeding is very much an interdisciplinary activity, with lots of input from other departments within a seed company, such as the plant pathology, molecular or marketing departments. But in the old days it was often a one-person job, and from time to time it is good to look back and see on whose shoulders we are standing.
