Dutch seedsman Simon Groot receives the prestigious Mansholt Business Award for Sustainable Entrepreneurship in recognition of his contribution to the vegetable farming sector in the tropics over the last three decades.
Groot is the founder of East-West Seed, a 33-year old company that has played an important role in the development and improvement of tropical vegetable varieties in Southeast Asia and beyond.
“Our world is dominated by small scale farmers. What we do is add value to their labor and land. We have worked hard to create better genetics in tropical vegetable crops, using plant breeding technologies that have been successful for centuries in the West where I came from,” says Groot.
The company bridges the gap in farmer extension and technology transfer, responding to the changing economic and social conditions in agriculture-based developing countries.
More information is available here: http://www.eastwestseed.com/international/en/news/detail.php?ID=3373
