Vegetable breeding company Bejo and tropical seed industry leader Tropic Biosciences have launched a collaboration deploying Tropic’s ground-breaking Gene Editing induced Gene Silencing (GEiGS®) technology platform to develop durable disease resistance against multiple diseases in Bejo’s elite carrot germplasm.
Successful outcomes from this multi-trait partnership will create precision-edited carrot varieties that exhibit robust GEiGS®-mediated resistance to pathogens that threaten the long-term viability of carrot production worldwide.
Carrots are one of the most widely grown and consumed vegetables globally, with annual production exceeding 45 million metric tonnes at an estimated market value of over £25 billion by 2030. Global production, however, is under mounting pressure from a range of destructive soilborne and foliar diseases. In some years, growers have experienced yield reduction by as much as 50%. These diseases not only affect yield and crop quality, but significantly shorten storage life and marketability leading to large post-harvest losses. With an increasing demand for more sustainably grown produce and resilient supply chains, there is an urgent need to develop varieties with built-in resistance.
“At Bejo, we are continuously looking to help our growers improve quality and yield in the most sustainable way. Teaming up with Tropic and combining our capabilities in biotechnology, breeding and phytopathology gives us a great opportunity to achieve that goal. We expect that Tropic’s GEiGS platform offers the potential to deliver innovations in disease resistance by delivering on the long-standing promise that RNA silencing has brought us.” says Marc Bots, Director of Research & Breeding at Bejo.
This world class partnership aims to strengthen Bejo’s repertoire of New Breeding Technologies by combining decades of its carrot breeding expertise with Tropic’s game-changing GEiGS® platform. The collaboration aims to deliver next-generation non-GMO products that are naturally disease resilient and better suited to environmental stressors – also aligning with the sustainable production standards synonymous with Bejo’s products.
“This partnership with Bejo exemplifies the power of combining established crop-breeding experience with cutting-edge biotechnology. By applying our GEiGS® platform to Bejo’s elite germplasm, we aim to deliver durable, non-GMO disease resistance to secure the future of carrot production worldwide. It’s an important step toward more sustainable, resilient food systems that meet the demands of growers, retailers, and consumers alike” says Jack Peart, Chief Development Officer at Tropic.
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About Bejo
Founded over a century ago and headquartered in Warmenhuizen, Netherlands, Bejo is a privately held, internationally orientated family business that specializes in breeding, production and distribution of high-quality vegetable seeds. Operating in more than 30 countries, Bejo offers over 1,000 seed varieties across more than 40 crop types—most notably carrot, onion and Brassicas—and sells into over 100 markets globally. Bejo’s approach as they invest heavily in organic seed production (now over 140 certified varieties), foster responsible use of natural resources and support smallholder growers in emerging regions through training and seed access programs. Bejo’s core mission is to stay “close to nature” while developing healthy, sustainable vegetable varieties so growers worldwide can harvest nutritious, flavourful produce. By forging long-term relationships with growers, processors and supply-chain partners, Bejo co-develops varieties that meet real-world needs—whether for disease resistance, shelf life, or taste. Visit Bejo.com for more information.
About Tropic
Tropic is a pioneering tropical seeds company dedicated to the development of healthier, more robust, high-performing varieties of staple crops. The company’s core crop portfolio focusses on banana, coffee and rice, which together provide a source of livelihood to billions of people worldwide. Tropic utilises its proprietary GEiGS® platform and other cutting-edge gene editing technologies to develop improved crops with increased disease resistance, higher yields, and environmentally sustainable traits. By harnessing the power of advanced genetic engineering, Tropic is committed to addressing global agricultural challenges and providing innovative solutions that benefit farmers, consumers, and the environment. For more information, visit www.tropic.bio
About the GEiGS® Platform
GEiGS® (Gene Editing induced Gene Silencing) is Tropic’s proprietary technology platform that utilises established genome editing tools to make precise changes within non-coding genes that redirect their activity towards a desired target. Targets can include fine-tuning expression of the host’s own genes to develop new quality, composition or plant architectural traits. GEiGS® can be also used to activate defences against pathogens and pests like viruses, fungi and insects to address a wide variety of crop protection applications. GEiGS®-mediated traits are heritable and dominant and do not rely on introduction of foreign genes into the host genome, rendering this approach to be considered non-GMO in several key global geographies.
For more information, visit the GEiGS® website.
