Series
Strong portfolio,
strong locations
In each issue of insideKWS, we present examples of how our Business Units are putting the Strategic Planning 2031 into practice.
Sunflower
Promoting growth
Twelve years ago, KWS initiated a new sunflower breeding program in Hungary and launched variety trials there and in Romania with around 1,000 hybrids on 5,000 plots. Our test network has since expanded enormously and currently comprises more than 110,000 plots and 5,000 hybrids in various countries, including Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Ukraine and Germany.
Development of sunflower business is a further step forward in our portfolio and enables us to provide farmers with even better consulting and to live up to our vision “Seeding the future for generations.”
KWS’ sunflower program has grown steadily in recent years thanks to investments and intensive work. Breeding stress- and drought-tolerant varieties opens up new possibilities. It means that use of chemical products on fields can be reduced, while negative effects on the soil and environment can be minimized.
#ROOKIE is the name we have given to the sunflower in our strategic planning for 2031. In sports, the term refers to a beginner, someone who has just turned professional. At the same time, it is a person chosen because of their abilities, potential and ambition to grow – a future superstar!
Our strategic goal is to achieve a market share of five percent with the sunflower by 2030/2031. Together, we will ensure that the sunflower project becomes another success story for KWS. |
Vegetables
More space = more trials
Our research and development needs more space in greenhouses for vegetable breeding – and in particular the ability to carry out more trials simultaneously on smaller plots. In the face of climate change, we need to develop new varieties faster and faster.
To enable that, we are adding 6,600 square meters for research into and development of optimized vegetable varieties to supplement our existing 1,600 m² greenhouse in Andijk. One-third of the new space is an unglazed research area for our outdoor crops (spinach, beans, red beet and Swiss chard), a further third of the greenhouse space is to grow these crops, and the other third (2,200 square meters) is devoted to our new fruity crops: cucumbers and pepper. A 900 m² office building – including small laboratories and a canteen that is also suitable for internal and external meetings – is being erected next to it and overlooks our trial fields.
Planning for the new R&D center began three years ago; construction work started at the beginning of March and is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year. We will then also have 330 solar panels on the roof as a source of sustainable energy. Our goal with the new building is to offer our currently 25 research colleagues ideal conditions for breeding heat- and disease-resistant varieties for sustainable agriculture.
Cereals
Oilseed rape is blossoming
Our oilseed rape breeding team is doing an excellent job – and that is not by chance: The oilseed rape breeding strategy has also been adapted with a view to the Strategic Planning 2031, with a focus on a new generation of hybrids.
The upshot was a continuous increase in market share and the performance of our varieties. A look at the past year alone shows the success of the strategy, as our breeding has produced several new top-class varieties. In France, KWS MERINOS with the new resistance gene LepR1 to combat Phoma, the most widespread fungal disease in oilseed rape, is being launched on the market. KWS MIKADOS, the newly registered variety in Hungary, impressed with its extremely good yield and very high adaptability under diverse conditions. We therefore intend to sell the variety in more than 10 additional markets this year, which is an exceptional achievement. In Poland, KWS LAUROS notched up the highest yield in the field trials following its approval, making it the best variety on the Polish market in 2023. And in Germany, three out of six newly approved varieties were from KWS. What’s more, two of these new varieties received the highest ratings for grain yield, oil yield and oil content.
We are also successfully breeding our unique KWS InsectPROTECT genetics against insect pests in more and more varieties. We can already predict that our breeding material will also produce new top varieties in 2024. KWS will thus continue visibly strengthening its position as an oilseed rape breeder on the global market. |
Zuckerrüben
TURKA: New processing plant
TURKA is the project name for the new processing and packaging plant in Eskişehir. Together with the PIA, FRANCA and RUNA projects, it is embedded in the production strategy for sugarbeet. Continuous investment in relevant locations is part of our core business and feeds into our strategic goals.
The plant will focus on seed processing and packaging and is thus a modern addition to the location. This strategic measure means there will be an export hub in Türkiye that is not affected by the EU’s ban on seed treatments that contain neonicotinoids. It will create local business, financial and IT processes for exporting treated sugarbeet seed from Türkiye to several markets.
Construction of the new plant was given the go-ahead in the spring of 2023 and KWS is investing around six million euros in the project. Production is scheduled to start in October 2024.
The project entails economic, political and regulatory challenges in the most important export markets and Türkiye, which means the colleagues participating in it need to adopt a flexible approach. At the same time, it involves changes to the business and operating model for production and sales.
Thanks to our experienced and motivated team in Eskişehir, implementation is proceeding apace and is benefiting from the experience and lessons learned from similar previous projects such as FRANCA and RUNA. |
© KWS SAAT SE & Co. KGaA 2025
