EU Commission releases proposals on New Genomic Techniques and Plant Reproductive Material
The work of the Commission aims at keeping the sector competitive, recognizing its contribution to food security and to transition towards a more sustainable food production.
Improving sustainability will be central as a key requirement for future crop varieties, while the PRM legislation also safeguards the access to better seeds by ensuring that plant health requirements are respected when placing any kind of seeds on the market regardless of source. In addition, the identity and quality guarantees that come with regulated seeds continue to give confidence to farmers and growers whilst providing a level playing field for all commercial operators.
Research and innovation are the basis to develop improved plant varieties, helping farmers to cope with current and future challenges. For this reason, KWS welcomes the proposed recognition of certain NGTs products as conventional. We hope the future provisions will enable plant breeders to make more improved varieties available across Europe, regulated by the proven effective and trusted seed marketing legislation conventional, allowing them to be included in the breeder’s toolbox. We, therefore, encourage the proposal to be fine-tuned to ensure a science-based and non-discriminatory way to the market for NGT products which are similar to those from conventional breeding.
KWS is convinced that these new breeding methods are an important tool for the future of sustainable agriculture, for maintaining food supply and for achieving the Farm to Fork targets. The speed and precision of these methods allow breeders to develop faster regionally adapted plant varieties that respond to the challenges posed by climate change, degradation of land and plant diseases.
KWS will continue providing its views based on scientific evidence and expertise, to support the debate and the adoption of sound decisions.
About KWS*
KWS is one of the world’s leading plant breeding companies. More than 5,000 employees* in over 70 countries generated net sales of around €1.8 billion in fiscal 2022/2023. A company with a tradition of family ownership, KWS has operated independently for over 165 years. It focuses on plant breeding and the production and sale of seed for corn, sugarbeet, cereals, vegetables, oilseed rape and sunflowers. KWS uses leading-edge plant breeding methods to continuously improve yield for farmers and plants’ resistance to diseases, pests and abiotic stress. To that end, the company invested more than €300 million last fiscal year in research and development.
*excl. seasonal workforce
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Gina Wied
Lead of Corporate Communications
Global Marketing & Communications
Mail: press@kws.com