LIMAGRAIN is a French company that celebrated its 50 years a short time ago. Can you briefly tell us about its history, areas of activity and geographical locations?
LIMAGRAIN, the fourth largest seed company in the world, has set itself the mission of advancing agriculture to meet global food challenges.
We are a cooperative group created and run by French farmers since 1965. Our parent company, the LIMAGRAIN Cooperative federates nearly 2,000 farmers, located in the centre of France in the plain of Limagne Val d’Allier (Auvergne).
LIMAGRAIN creates, produces and sells field seeds (LG), vegetable seeds (Vilmorin, Hazera, HM. Clause) and cereal products (Jacquet, Brossard).
We are present in 56 countries and have more than 10,000 employees.
Your research budget is significant, what are your main areas of research?
Indeed, with Cooperation and Perseverance, Scientific Progress is LIMAGRAIN’s core value. We invest nearly 15% of our turnover in Research and Development.
For our Field Crop operations (Corn, Sunflower, Winter Rapeseed, Wheat, Durum Wheat, Barley, Protein crop), our research team has nearly 1,000 researchers in Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa and Australia.
Our main research focus is obviously to obtain varieties of very high performance adapted to the pedo-climatic conditions of each growing region.
Nevertheless, the marked climatic changes cause many constraints on the crops and of course on the farms. At LIMAGRAIN, we want to give more safety to farmers, by offering them innovations in stress tolerance (drought, diseases…).
The products you offer represent a real breakthrough for agriculture; they are already used in many countries, what are the features and benefits?
Agriculture cannot be apprehended in a unique & global way. Only an understanding of local constraints, intense work on improvement factors and an adapted response can be the key to agricultural performance. It is also for this reason that Limagrain has set up its subsidiaries close to its markets.
The varieties we offer in each market respond to this local approach.
On the other hand, our technical innovations aimed at improving performance in drought situations (HYDRANEO for corn), tolerance to diseases / stress (Orobanche Resistance in Sunflower, TuYV Resistance for Winter Rapeseed…), or the development of new cultural practices (precision agriculture…) respond well to European issues.
Romania is a very important agricultural market in Europe, what is your implementation policy in Romania, at what stage are you with the deployment of your products and solutions?
Limagrain has been active in Romania for 27 years. We were lucky to be the protagonists in and witnesses of the development of this wonderful country.
Romania has exceptional agricultural potential. Sustained development has been taking place over the last 20 years, including a doubling of cereal yields and the accession of Romania to the platform of Europe’s largest exporters of corn and wheat.
The potential for development is still significant and above all essential for the economic growth of the country because the share of agriculture in Romania’s GDP is of 4.8% (vs. 1.3% on average in the EU).
Like other EU countries, Romania will continue its “agricultural transformation” through improved farming practices and techniques, the use of ever-increasing varieties and the development of agricultural precision.
On the economic front, increased investment in agro-food processing will be a key factor in Romania’s development, boosting local agricultural production and so decreasing imports of finished consumer products.
Limagrain wishes to support this development through both our services, our advice and our products for farmers, and by sharing our vision and experience of cooperation and structuring of agro-food chains.
What are your main expectations for Romania today, and more generally, on the eve of European elections, what message do you want to convey to Romania, Europe and all our consumer citizens?
The agricultural world is constantly reinventing itself and it conditions our food independence and our economic performance in a globalized market.
Our consumer citizens are increasingly aware of the importance of food security. In Europe, we have one of the most efficient, qualitative and environmentally-friendly farming. It is important for our European institutions to value and protect these virtuous and strategic sectors.
Finally, Romania is full of both human and natural resources. This incredibly pro-European population needs the cooperation and kindness of other member states to continue to reinvent itself socially, economically and politically.
To find out more, please visit us on:
www.limagrain.com or lgseeds-europe.com or lgseeds.ro
