The Sainsbury Laboratory has secured $2 million from Google.org’s $20 million AI for Science Fund to launch Bifrost, led by Professor Sophien Kamoun. Using DeepMind’s AlphaFold3, Bifrost will predict plant immune receptor–pathogen interactions from genome sequences to speed breeding of disease-resis
International agreements born in the 1990s era of globalization shaped trade, climate, and biodiversity governance through multilateral cooperation. Three decades later, rising geopolitical tensions, stalled COPs, and growing lobbying have weakened progress. The article argues for smaller, trust-bas
Seed sits at the center of food security, sustainable agriculture, and global trade transformation. The ISF World Seed Congress 2026 in Lisbon brings together seed and plant breeding leaders to address climate volatility, innovation, regulation, and markets. Under the theme “Joint Actions, Resilient
The EU has reached a provisional agreement on New Genomic Techniques regulation, classifying Category 1 NGT plants as equivalent to conventional breeding and outside GMO rules. The framework increases transparency around patents, mandates disclosure, and launches reviews on intellectual property imp
Gene editing is accelerating plant breeding across crops and regions, but global regulatory frameworks may determine who gets to innovate. In a recent webinar, regulatory veteran Daniel Jenkins explains how policy decisions in Latin America, Europe and beyond are shaping the future of seed innovatio
University of Reading research published in Nature Geoscience (14 January 2026) warns Europe and western North America will face more frequent, intense crop droughts as warming accelerates soil moisture loss, even where annual rainfall rises. The study maps growing-season drought hotspots and shows
Hybrid rye is transforming Danish pig production by improving feed efficiency, animal welfare, and sustainability. In this KWS Seed World Visits episode, farmers and experts show how rye performs on poor soils, supports calmer pigs and healthier digestion, and enables 60–70% inclusion in feed. Learn
Euroseeds welcomes the ENVI committee’s strong approval of the NGT Regulation compromise text, moving the EU closer to a modern framework for new genomic techniques. Council confirmation is expected in February or early March, followed by final ENVI and plenary votes likely in April, paving the way
In Part 2 of Seed World Europe’s Seeds of Change series, leaders from Bayer, Semillas Fitó, RiceTec and Syngenta explain how sustainability in the seed sector goes beyond field traits to include operations, culture and collaboration. Through shared action under ISF’s ESR-CG, companies are aligning b
As ENVI prepares to vote on the EU New Genomic Techniques Regulation on 28 January, Euroseeds urges support for the agreed compromise. Following successful trilogue negotiations, Euroseeds warns that delays would harm plant breeding innovation, farmer competitiveness, climate-resilient crops, and Eu
Sustainability in agriculture starts with seed, argue Ben Rivoire and Khaoula Belhaj-Fragnière of the International Seed Federation. New ISF papers highlight how plant breeding innovation boosts yields, resilience and resource efficiency while reducing environmental impact. From climate-resilient va
Wheat yields in north-west Europe have plateaued since the mid-1990s, stabilising around 7–9 tonnes per hectare despite continued genetic gains. Wageningen University & Research analysis combining trials, Dutch farm data and crop modelling finds climate change has not limited yields and has slightly
phenoLytics won first prize at the 2025 Euroseeds InnovAction Stage for its high-throughput 3D and 4D X-ray CT seed phenotyping solutions. The technology delivers ground-truth data on seed and seedling quality across the entire value chain, enabling faster, objective decisions in breeding, processin
Staphyt and GenoScreen have signed a collaboration agreement combining genomics, regulatory studies, and field trials for microbial product development. The partnership links genomic characterisation, bioinformatics, laboratory studies, and efficacy trials to support European regulatory requirements
The 2Blades Group at The Sainsbury Laboratory and Bayer won a BBSRC Industrial Partnership Award to develop durable resistance to soybean rust. The £860,000, three-year project will study novel immune gene mechanisms from wild Glycine relatives, aiming to protect soybeans from Phakopsora pachyrhizi,
For decades, seed production relied almost exclusively on bees for managed pollination. Polyfly is rethinking that model by industrializing the mass rearing of hoverflies as an alternative pollinator. Recognized at the 2025 Euroseeds InnovAction Stage, Polyfly offers breeders and seed producers a fl
Lima, Peru marked a missed opportunity to modernize the FAO International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources. High hopes to address digital sequence information, benefit-sharing, and access reforms collapsed into stalemate. With negotiations halted, the seed sector warns that growing sovereignty disp
Cgrain and Lantmännen are modernizing grain grading with AI-driven image analysis that automates ocular inspection. A patented V-shaped mirror and camera capture 90%+ of each kernel’s surface to detect defects, measure size and weight, and standardize results. Trained on global image datasets, the s
University of Warwick researchers have identified a rapid, jasmonate-driven early immune response that activates systemic acquired resistance (SAR) within hours of infection. Published in Nature Plants, the study used a new live-imaging reporter, JISS1:LUC, to track fast immune signals spreading to
This two-part interview with Dutch science journalist and filmmaker Dr. Hidde Boersma examines how a 1970s “harmony with nature” narrative came to define sustainability by promoting less growth and less technology. Boersma argues this mindset undermines high-yield agriculture, plant breeding and foo
CornPheno is a smartphone-based AI system that measures key corn ear traits—kernels per ear, rows per ear and kernels per row—directly in field conditions. Developed by Hao Lu’s team and reported in Plant Phenomics (15 October 2025), it outperformed several counting models and maintained strong accu
Ghana launched the Ghana Seed Partnership (GSP) on 29 October 2025 in Accra, deepening Ghana–Netherlands agribusiness cooperation. The initiative unites 13 public, private and research partners to modernize Ghana’s vegetable seed sector, improve access to quality seed and inputs, and boost horticult
UK, EU and Swiss NGT regulations due by 2026 remain fragmented and incoherent. The UK uses a product-based, two-tier system with lighter rules for precision breeding. The EU and Switzerland retain process-based, ad hoc approaches driven by activist pressure, creating patent uncertainty, research fli
Researchers from The James Hutton Institute’s International Barley Hub and an INRAE-UCA-led consortium have found genomic evidence of convergent selection in barley and wheat. Published in Nature Plants, the study analysed 1,300+ barley and wheat lines, identifying shared variants linked to developm
