Research and development
The long journey toward a new variety.
The spark that evolves into a new variety doesn’t happen overnight: Year after year, our breeders work on developing new high-performance plant varieties that meet the needs and challenges of agriculture. They always have an eye on the future. Over several years, parent plants are combined, and their offspring are carefully tested and selected for desired characteristics. Many different methods are used in this process — from traditional crossbreeding and hybrid breeding to advanced biotechnological methods. On average, it takes ten years until a new variety is approved.
Hightech meets handcraft
Timeline of innovations
Since its foundation almost 170 years ago, KWS’s success has been based on innovative plant breeding methods. These have been continuously expanded and refined over the decades to provide farmers with continuously improved seed for increasingly productive seed varieties.
Diversity as the basis: Breeders need access to a large number of genetically different plants of one kind in order to find useful properties for new plant varieties.
1 | Pre-breeding and trait development (upstream, up to 10 years):
In most cases, Mother Nature has the answer, but you still have to
look for it. Therefore, in the pre-breeding process, traits from wild
forms and old varieties are identified and crossbred in high-performance
lines. However, valuable plant traits can also be developed with the
help of biotechnological approaches and be introduced directly to
high-performance breeding material. As such, our breeders have to
anticipate which varieties will be in demand in the future.
2 | Crossbreeding and material development (up to 3 years):
To
recombine as many traits as possible, in this step the high-performance
materials from previous years are crossbred with each other and also
with material from the pre-breeding stage. In this way, the plant
material is adapted to suit regional environmental conditions and
agronomic requirements. Step by step, traits are combined, yield is
improved, the general resistance level is increased and quality features
are adapted. This process is very time-consuming, and hundreds of
thousands or even millions of test candidates are created.
3 | Property testing and selection (up to 4 years):
The
properties of all candidates have to be tested extensively. This takes
place in field tests at many different locations worldwide and for many
different traits. Tests are also carried out in greenhouses and
laboratories. The aim is to select variety candidates that display the
desired combinations of traits. In addition to requiring a good eye for
breeding, this selection process needs many different skills and the
latest technologies.
4 | Variety testing and approval (up to 3 years):
Following
the breeding phase, the varieties are subject to official tests. In a
procedure taking several years, the remaining variety candidates are
planted at various locations with different environmental conditions and
their properties are tested by an independent body. In the end, only
candidates that clearly differ from other varieties and that are better
than the previously approved varieties are certified as a new variety.
5 | Seed propagation and certification (up to 2 years):
The
Production, Marketing and Sales units now take over the marketable
variety. Pre-propagation and management trials are already started
during the approval procedure and take place during the complete life of
a variety. Our seed propagation is subject to strict internal quality
requirements and is also reviewed by the responsible authorities. Our
management trials provide us with valuable experience regarding our own
varieties so that we can advise farmers accordingly. Across all crops,
KWS obtains distribution approval for many hundreds of new varieties
each year that ensure sustainable yields.
