University and seed company strengthen collaboration in Thailand

On Thursday 14 January 2016, East-West Seed and Chiang Mai University (CMU) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to herald a 5-year research cooperation between the two partners.

The MOU will consolidate and build on earlier collaborations between the two partners. East-West Seed and CMU have collaborated in a papaya micropropagation project recently and the company provides training for 6 - 10 bachelor students in their Hortigenetics Research center every year. In September 2015, the company donated a DNA sequencer to the Faculty of Agriculture. 

Towards 2018, East-West Seed and CMU will be co-organising the scientific Solanaceae conference, that is organised in a different country every year. The conference focuses on crops in the Solanaceae family such as tomato, potato, tobacco, eggplant, pepper, and the ornamental Petunia hybrida. 

Vice President of East-West Seed Simon Jan de Hoop is enthusiastic about the MOU: “We aim to contribute to the academic careers of students and scientists. High quality academic research is essential to facilitate innovation and future development in our industry. I am very happy to intensify our collaboration with Chiang Mai University - which is almost our neighbor - and reinforce our worldwide network of research partners."

Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture at CMU Assoc. Prof. Theera Visitpanich welcomes collaborations with private sector partners: “We are proud to work with East-West Seed, the leading vegetable seed breeder in South East Asia. It is valuable to connect our students and researchers to the everyday practice of agricultural business.”

On Friday 15 January, 500 students including 150 from CMU, visited East-West Seed’s demonstration fields in Chiang Mai. They were welcomed by Simon Jan de Hoop (photo) and had a tour of the breeding facilities and demonstration fields at East-West Seed's Simon Groot Research Center in Chiang Mai.