-
KWS Cereals
Our Main Cereal Crops
Cereals are grown in greater quantity and provide more food energy than any other type of crop worldwide. Our product is progress – in cereal breeding.
The continuous development of new and improved cereal varieties with high-quality seed is our goal. This way, we want to make sure that progress in yield really makes it to the field! Together with productive agriculture, this is a key factor for sustainable food production and responsible use of natural resources.
Hybrid Rye
Hybrid rye is a highly efficient crop which is very successfully grown on medium and light soils. High yield, quality, agronomic characters such as winter hardiness, drought tolerance and standing ability as well as resistance to diseases like ergot are important. Rye is also an excellent feed component.
Find out more about Hybrid Rye.
Wheat
Wheat is grown on more global land area than any other commercial crop and is one of the worlds most important staple foods for humans. What is important for our wheat breeding program is to offer varieties that are high yielding alongside of excellent agronomic characters in every quality group, from baking to fodder.
Barley
This is also true for barley, although another key aspect in this case is its brewing quality.
Further Details on the KWS Cereals Division
"The success of farmers as our main stakeholders is the driver of all our activities."
All of our activities along the value chain are focused on providing modern agriculture with innovative varieties of high-quality seed with which to grow feed and food and regenerative raw materials to produce energy. The cooperation with all our stakeholders is very important in order to reach these goals.
Farmers
By buying our high-quality seed, our customers invest in the development and optimization of cereal varieties.
KWS
Our shareholders grant us the freedom to act independently.
Employees
More than 400 specialists worldwide are our key factor for success.
R&D cooperation
Several partnerships in science further enhance the development of new breeding or seed processing technologies.
Seed organizations and intellectual property
Variety protection, patents, and legal framework make up the foundation of our business.
Partners in the seed value chain
Maintaining close contact with seed processors, multipliers, dealers, seed treatment providers keeps us close to the market pulse.
Partners in the food, feed, and energy value chain
A close dialog with partners like millers, brewers, feed producers, etc. is a major driver of our variety development.
Consumers
We help to provide healthy and sustainable products.
Our Goal is to Secure the Production of High Quality Seed
Seed stand at the very beginning of the value chain and its quality has a crucial influence on yield, processing quality and production efficiency.
Certified seed of our varieties is grown by professional growers and produced by processors whose aim is to deliver high- quality seed.
We and our partners choose seed producers on the basis of regional and quality-related aspects. An isolated location, for example, is a key criterion for selecting hybrid rye multipliers because a minimum distance to other rye fields must be kept.
Strict quality management processes at all stages of breeding and production underlines our commitment to make high-performance varieties and certified seed of the best quality available to farmers.
Vision in Research and Development Activities
All of our research and development activities are focused on one objective: the development of top performing varieties that meet the demands of the market and contribute to sustainable production.
To reach our goals today and in the future, a balanced combination of experience, research, innovation and practical field work is employed. The use of new methods of molecular marker technology and genetic engineering are of great importance to us. This work is carried out in the KWS Group's biotech lab in Einbeck. Partnerships with public and private research institutes worldwide also comprise a core element of our R&D.
Vision prevails in everything we do – from research to on-farm support.
Modern plant breeding is cutting-edge technology. Every year, we invest more than the industrial average in our core competencies of breeding and research with the objective of accelerating our development of new varieties and products.
"Breeding means keeping on recombining nature's genetic building blocks. For example, we are working on transferring the resistance of old wheat landraces to modern elite varieties."
Dr. Viktor Korzun, Head of Cereal Biotechnology
Breeding Globally – Succeeding Locally
Taking regional circumstances into account is especially important for us when breeding new varieties.
The establishment of our new breeding stations in Russia and North America in 2010 exemplify this formula. They also strengthen our existing breeding programs in Germany, United Kingdom, France and Poland. We are represented on all key markets with our own testing locations or those selected by trustworthy partners. This arrangement permits high performance and the development of regionally adapted varieties for successful local farming operations.
Distribution and Production
Our core markets are Europe, North America, and Eastern Europe. The marketing of our hybrid rye, wheat, and barley varieties is organized within KWS business structures or we collaborate with external partners.
KWS Worldwide
While the seed production and distribution of our hybrid rye varieties is mainly organized by us, we operate a license model for non-hybrids such as wheat or barley.
The latter means that we produce and sell basic seed to external partners who then are responsible for the certified seed production, distribution, and sales to farmers.
Collaborating with Farmers
What matters most to us is earning the trust of farmers. We strive to meet these demands for expertise and to set standards as a seed specialist for distributors by providing consulting in the area of cereals.
Therefore, we are engaged in ongoing personal dialog with our customers. We provide information and advise them at events. All these activities build an ideal means for a mutually beneficial exchange with customers.
Much of this information can be used for the development of new products or more efficient communication platforms. This exchange of information is vital to us!
Collaboration with the Production Chain
By virtue of their close proximity to the agricultural, feedstuff, and food industries, current and future practical requirements as well as regional differences are involved in the process of breeding new varieties.
Both the RYE BELT Project which involves all parts of the value chain, and our international malting barley product management exemplify this close contact on an international level.
The main aspects that we consider are:
- breeding high-performing, environmentally adapted and market-oriented varieties
- optimizing plant cultivation designed for highly efficient crop production
- enhancing our marketing approach
KWS Cereals Division – we are ...
- the specialist in cereal breeding providing a broad range of innovative, high quality products.
- an internationally oriented and expanding division keeping our principles of fair-mindedness, reliability and trust.
- maintaining close contact with our customers by offering professional consulting and services.
"We see ourselves as a partner for farmers´ success. Throughout the routine of our day-to-day business, we concentrate on developing high performance varieties and high-quality seed. Simultaneously, we focus on consulting and supporting our customers in cereal production."
Contact us ...
