CropDesign NV announces today that it has been awarded two major projects for the development of genetic resistance against nematodes.
Nematodes are microscopic worms living in the soil and parasiting on plant roots.
They cause considerable damage to potatoes, beets and other plants, and are typically killed with poisonous and minimally biodegradable pesticides. These projects, with an overall value of EUR 4.2 million, allow CropDesign to accelerate the development of an environment-friendly solution to this problem. European Commission support amounts to EUR 3 million. CropDesign is the only participating company and will obviously play a key role in commercialising the research results. The global loss of production for crops such as sugar beets, potatoes, tomatoes, soy and wheat caused by nematodes is estimated at USD 80 billion.