The agreement aims to commercialize and distribute high-quality, disease-free feedstock to smallholder farmers in Kenya and India. Real potato seeds promise to improve the yield and sustainability of a critical food crop, enhancing food security and nutritional the value of new varieties bred to thrive in challenging environments, benefiting local communities and farmers’ incomes
Wageningen, The Netherlands – June 24, 2024 – Bayer and Solynta have reached an agreement to collaborate on the commercialization and distribution of real potato seeds in the Kenyan and Indian markets. The partnership marks Bayer’s entry into the 20 million hectare global potato market and its first collaboration with Solynta, a Dutch company specializing in the development of robust hybrid potato varieties for the world’s fourth largest crop by volume and one of the world’s most cultivated horticultural crops. .
The collaboration will focus on Solynta’s expertise in potato breeding and the development of new sustainable potato varieties that will be successful in key potato growing regions. This innovation will allow growers to grow potatoes from real seeds rather than traditional tubers. To produce a potato harvest, farmers will need just 25 grams of clean, disease-free real potato seed per hectare, compared with the 2,500 kilograms of perishable seed tubers previously required. Bayer will use its strong presence and local distribution channels to commercialize varieties most suitable for these regions. The new hybrid potato varieties will be supplied by Bayer as real seeds to potato growers in the most remote areas of Kenya and India.
Benefits of Real Potato Seeds
The ability to grow potatoes from actual potato seeds rather than seed tubers provides significant benefits to the potato industry. Seed tubers are more likely to become diseased or spoil during transportation, and are more expensive to transport and store. On the other hand, true potato seeds are clean and disease-free, which provides many benefits to the traditional seed materials used in potato cultivation. Real potato seeds also have a shelf life of many years, are much smaller in size and are economical to transport and store. In addition, real potato seeds are available all year round. Hybridization can produce true potato seeds with additional beneficial properties, including disease resistance and resilience to climate change.
For Bayer, adding real potato seeds to its portfolio is in line with its agricultural recovery strategy to create more sustainable food systems. “We are delighted to partner with Solynta and further support small farmers,” said Frank Terhorst, Head of Strategy and Sustainability at Bayer’s Crop Science Division. “Innovation in seed production is one of our key areas of focus. We expect these real seeds potatoes will have a positive impact on local communities as well as food security in Kenya and India
“Adding real potato seeds to our portfolio is a natural extension of the work our team continues to do to support small farmers and bring them the latest innovations,” said Inchi Dannenberg, President of Bayer Global Vegetable Seeds. “We will leverage our already well-established distribution networks in India and Kenya to provide growers with genuine potato seeds.”
Peter Portinga, CEO of Solynta, said the true potato seeds are the result of almost two decades of work on Solynta’s potato hybrid technology. “Hybridization is a proven technology for growing many existing food crops, allowing the rapid development of new varieties with desirable properties, such as disease resistance. As a company, we are pleased to join forces with Bayer to introduce and distribute our real potato seeds to these markets. This collaboration is an important step towards the widespread commercialization of real potato seeds and the creation of new, sustainable potato cropping systems,” he concluded.
According to Solynta commercial director Joost van Regteren, this cooperation marks the beginning of an expansion of commercial presence in the regions. “We are committed to rapid and widespread adoption of real potato seeds, conducting field and commercial trials to demonstrate their effectiveness. We are very pleased to partner with Bayer for further commercialization in Kenya and India,” he said.
One of the biggest challenges facing smallholder farmers in both regions is the lack of high-quality input material with suitable genetics to grow potatoes to feed their communities and improve their financial situation. In both regions, the need for high-quality input materials for growing potatoes exceeds their availability. In Kenya, potato is the number two staple crop and its producers depend on limited supplies of seed tubers, which often carry potato diseases.
India is the second largest potato market in the world. Due to rapid population growth and different climatic zones in the country, there is a high demand for new, disease-resistant potato varieties that are easy to transport. By using Solynta true potato seeds, smallholder farmers in both markets will have access to high-quality input material to grow potatoes and feed their communities.
About Bayer
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in life sciences such as health and nutrition. Consistent with its mission of “Health for All, Hunger for No One,” the company’s products and services are designed to help people and the planet prosper by supporting efforts to overcome the major challenges facing a growing and aging global population. Bayer is committed to sustainability and positive impact in its business. At the same time, the Group strives to increase its revenues and create value through innovation and growth. The Bayer brand stands for trust, reliability and quality all over the world. In the 2023 financial year, the Group employed approximately 100,000 people and generated sales of €47.6 billion. R&D expenses excluding special items amounted to 5.8 billion euros. www.bayer.com.
