French seed specialist HM Clause has announced that it has opened its largest research centre, located in La Bohalle, near the western French city of Angers.
The 10ha site reportedly includes 20,000m2 of covered crops, 3ha of open-field crops and 4,850m2 of laboratories and offices, and required an investment of €14m.
CEO Matthew Johnston commented: “Our organisation is dedicated to innovation. Each year, we invest 15 per cent of our sales in research. The choice of La Bohalle for this facility was not made by chance. We have developed many relationships in this region, which is very dynamic and creative in the field of vegetable research. The La Bohalle Centre completes our worldwide installations and provides the research capacity necessary for meeting the challenges of producing more and better.”
According to Mark Stowers, VP for research and breeding, the new facility is dedicated to eight vegetables crops: cauliflower, broccoli, carrot, turnip, celery, fennel, corn salad and rocket.
“La Bohalle is also the site of our largest research laboratory in the world,” he added. “It combines the activities of molecular marking, cellular biology, pathology and phytochemistry.”
Stowers said that the company remained convinced that a multidisciplinary approach, combining biologists and breeders, was the “most efficient approach to solving complex problems such as yield, taste, shelf life and disease resistance”.
