The plant breeding company has recently acquired a 14.5-hectare farm in Almeria, Spain, in the heart of the area where horticultural plants are grown and improved. KWS will build an improvement station, which will include product display areas and offices for the commercial and R&D& I team. These facilities will be focused on improving tomato, cucumber, and pepper; three of the most strategically relevant crops for KWS along with melon and watermelon.
"Almeria is one of the most important places for the improvement and cultivation of vegetables in the world. The construction of an improvement station on this site is a very important step in developing our improvement and research programs and therefore further expanding KWS'vegetable business," stated Wybe Van der Schaar, the company's Director of Improvement in Spain.
The station will be located in the area of El Ejido (Almeria), it will be built from scratch and the company will begin its construction very soon. "We are eager to start and to develop high-quality varieties for our customers that have a high tolerance to abiotic stress while reducing the use of resources in their cultivation," Van der Schaar added.
KWS started its first improvement and sales activities in Spain in 2020. Since then, the company has continued to build an experienced team for the Spanish market.
Background: New business unit for vegetable seeds
KWS is one of the world's leading plant breeding companies. The company, which has 165 years of experience in the seed industry, focuses on the improvement, production, and sale of corn, sugar beet, cereal, rapeseed, and sunflower seeds. In 2019, the company announced its long-term entry into the vegetable seed market, based on organic growth and complemented by acquisitions from other companies.
This included the acquisition of the Dutch company Pop Vriend Seeds, the world market leader in spinach seeds. In addition, KWS recently acquired the Italian vegetable seed company Geneplanta S.r.l. (now: KWS Vegetables Italia), a specialist in the improvement, production, and sale of tomato varieties. In parallel, KWS has focused on equipping the team with this new business division, as well as launching its own activities in Brazil, Mexico, and Turkey.
Javier Checa, responsible for farms, and Wybe van der Schaar, responsible for improvement for Spain, on the plot that the company recently acquired in El Ejido, Almería.
For more information:
KWS SAAT SE & Co. KGaA
Esmeralda García
Técnico comercial
Tel.: +34 682 001 768
esmeralda.garcia@kws.com
Francisco Caparrós
Técnico comercial
Tel.: +34 618 75 80 75
francisco.caparros@kws.com
www.kws.com