Bayer and Solynta partner to distribute true potato seeds

Bayer and Solynta announced an agreement to market and distribute true potato seeds in the Kenyan and Indian markets. The deal marks Bayer's entry into this global market, which covers 20 million hectares. This is the German company's first partnership with Solynta, a Dutch company specializing in the development of hybrid potato varieties.

The business is based on Solynta's expertise in potato genetic improvement. Promotes the development of new varieties that will thrive in key growing regions. According to the companies, the innovation will allow farmers to plant potatoes from real seeds, instead of traditional tubers. Bayer will be responsible for distributing these new hybrid varieties to farmers in remote areas of Kenya and India.

Advantages of real seeds

The companies explain in a statement that "real potato seeds have several advantages over tubers. They are smaller, cleaner, disease-free, have a long shelf life and are easier to transport and store. Furthermore, they are available during year-round and can be developed with additional beneficial traits such as disease resistance and climate resilience.”

The addition of these potato seeds to Bayer's portfolio is part of its regenerative agriculture strategy. “Seed innovation is one of our key focus areas,” said Frank Terhorst, head of strategy and sustainability at Bayer’s agricultural sciences division. “We hope Solynta’s real seeds will have a positive impact on local communities and food and nutrition security.”

Inci Dannenberg, president of global vegetable seeds at Bayer, added that “adding real potato seeds to our portfolio is a natural progression of our team’s work to support small farmers and deliver the latest innovations.”

Peter Poortinga, CEO of Solynta, highlighted that true potato seeds are the result of almost two decades of work on hybrid breeding technology. "Hybrid breeding is a proven technology in many existing food crops, enabling the rapid development of new varieties with desirable traits such as disease resistance. We are excited to join forces with Bayer in the introduction and distribution of our true seed potatoes."

What are real potato seeds

True potato seeds (TPS), also known as botanical potato seeds, are the actual seeds produced by potato plants. Unlike the "seeds" usually planted to grow potatoes, which are actually pieces From tubers, true potato seeds come from the small fruits that potato plants produce after flowering.