RAGT and Bayer have announced an exclusive collaboration to jointly develop hybrid wheat varieties. Charlotte Cunningham reports.
The new partnership aims to provide farmers with novel high-potential wheat varieties, enhancing sustainable agricultural practices.
Through a combination of Bayer’s position in wheat crop protection, expertise in seed production systems and its digital solutions in agriculture, and RAGT’s position as a key cereal seed company in Europe, both companies intend to advance the development of hybrid wheat technology and provide an innovative wheat growing system.
“Hybrid wheat offers farmers the opportunity to meet the challenges of climate change while achieving higher productivity in sustainable cropping systems,” says Bob Reiter, head of research and development at the crop science division of Bayer. “We are delighted to partner with RAGT to bring wheat farmers new solutions that support their efforts to produce a quality wheat crop.”
Laurent Guerreiro, general manager of RAGT Semences, also sees this collaboration as a turning point for farmers: “RAGT has continuously pursued a sustainable agriculture approach. This agreement, which aims to provide improved wheat and new cultivation practices, will enable us to support farmers even better. We are in line with the needs of an evolving agriculture. These innovations will enable meeting the needs of different types of agriculture: Concretely, by associating parent crops who each have innovative characteristics, we will be able to offer farmers wheat varieties that address the main problems farmers face in any of their fields.”
