Vegetable seed specialist Rijk Zwaan is aiming to expand its research activities as one of the partners of the Crops of the Future Collaborative.
The new public-private consortium is convened by the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR, located in the USA) and has research on leafy vegetables as one of its points of attention.
Besides FFAR and Rijk Zwaan, the founding partners of the Crops of the Future Collaborative are Bayer, Biogemma, KWS, FAPESP, Precision PlantSciences and CIMMYT.
The consortium partners will leverage the 'knowledge, capabilities and financial resources' of the founder organisations to help expand their scientific understanding of the genes and traits that give rise to characteristics that crops will need to adapt to changing environments.
“Our mission is to actively contribute to the world’s food supply and stimulate vegetable consumption. Joining the Crops of the Future Collaborative, with leafy vegetables as one of the focus crops, can help us achieve this mission,” said Kees Reinink, managing director of Rijk Zwaan. “Combining our strengths with partners in R&D is an important part of our strategy. Together, we can accelerate the further development of better vegetables.”
