Ivogene and Gedera Seeds signed an agreement to develop tomato varieties resistant to growing in salinity conditions
Avi Blizovsky
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The biotechnology company Ivogene, a pioneer in the development of biotechnological methods for plant cultivation, and Gedara Seeds, a leading Israeli company in the cultivation of vegetable varieties and the marketing of the seeds of these varieties throughout the world, announced today that they signed an agreement for cooperation in the development and commercialization of tomato varieties with improved resistance to growing in salinity conditions .
The tomato crops in the leading regions of the world are located in dry areas, characterized by high exposure to the sun, such as California and the Mediterranean basin. Growing tomatoes in these areas is based on a lot of irrigation. Due to the intensive irrigation and the use of water sources with a high level of salinity, the level of salinity in the soil increases from year to year and the crops are damaged by this until it is necessary to change the growing area. This situation requires the development of tomato varieties with a high level of resistance to these conditions.
The joint project includes the use of Evgen's existing tomato seed pool, which underwent selection for salt resistance even earlier and a unique selection system, which allows testing an especially large number of tomato plants for the required resistance. The project will also include the use of Evogene's genomic discovery infrastructure to locate genes involved in the resistance process in question. These genes will be used as markers in the cultivation process in order to shorten the duration of cultivation.
Zeraim Gedera will be responsible for the cultivation of the varieties and preparations and will contribute to the project its pool of genetic material and the many years of experience gained by the company in the cultivation of tomatoes. With the completion of the cultivation process, Zareim Gedara will also be responsible for producing the seeds of the salinity-resistant varieties and marketing them in the target markets. It should be emphasized that the cultivation process will be based on classic cultivation methods and that Ivogene's technologies will be used to speed up the process, so that the varieties will not be transgenic varieties but "green" varieties.
Ohad Zuckerman, CEO of Zeraim Gedera: "This project is a great example of synergy between companies with complementary infrastructures. We had planned to cultivate such varieties ourselves, but through the collaboration with Ivogene, we will be able to reach the market and return our investment faster.
Ofer Habib, COO of Ivogene: "We are very pleased to join an established and leading company in the field of tomatoes. This collaboration highlights Ivogene's business model as a leading supplier of improved plant traits to the leading seed companies in the field, such as Gedera Seeds."
The genome scientist - plants
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