Advanta Seeds rapidly expands in Brazil and India

One of the fastest growing agriculture companies, Advanta Seeds recently announced it's entering the soybean market in Brazil. The company is already known for high quality corn, sorghum, sunflower and canola seeds in Brazil, and soybean is Advanta Seeds’ new product on the market. On offer are two varieties of soybean seeds: ADV 4317 IPRO and ADV 4341 IPRO, both under the brand name “Vereda.”

The soybean products were developed in partnership with Don Mario’s genetic material and INTACTA technology. According to Edison Kopacheski, CEO of Advanta Seeds Brazil, "The germplasm is in early maturity and well adapted to the region of Cerrado, and it was developed specifically for that area. We are very excited about launching soybean products and we know our customers will be as well.” Kopacheski added, “With the Vereda line, Advanta Seeds will contribute to the main export market of Brazil. According to data from the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade (MDIC), in June 2015, soybean is 49.1% of Brazilian exported crops. Advanta Seeds is on a mission to meet the growing demand for soybean.”

Brazil is one of the strategic growth areas for Advanta Seeds. Claudio Torres, CEO of Advanta Seeds, stated that the company aims to invest BRL 200 million in the coming years in Brazil, especially in R&D and production. The head office of Brazil was recently moved from Florianópolis to Campinas to be near the new focus area of Cerrado. Advanta Seeds already has research and development stations in Minas Gerais in the Uberlandia region, and a new R&D satellite was established in Sorriso, which is one of the biggest grain producers in the world.

Sorriso has a large production area of 9 million hectares of soybean and 3.4 million hectares of Safrinha Corn in Mato Grosso state,” said Carmo Poloni, Senior Breeder, Advanta Seeds Brazil. Poloni added, “This had an impact on Advanta Seeds’ decision to establish a breeding station here.”

India is another strategic expansion market of Advanta Seeds and investment is being made with a new research laboratory in the R&D Station in Hyderabad, India. The pathology laboratory is a part of an already existing Biotech and Double Haploid Facility, and is fully equipped with the latest research equipment, culture and sterilization rooms, and growth chambers. The main research focus is disease resistance in vegetables and field crops in India.

With this upgraded facility, Advanta Seeds will be able to find sources of resistance against the most common vegetable crop diseases in more efficient and accurate ways. In this facility, Advanta Seeds will concentrate on cauliflower, okra, hot peppers, tomatoes, corn, rice and mustard.

Advanta Seeds’ research aims to provide farmers with better products, increased yields and consistent performance across environments and seasons in India. Successful products can be exported to geographies with similar production environments across the globe.

Dr. Alberto Leon, Global R&D Director for Advanta Seeds, commented, “Developing new research facilities in different geographies allows Advanta Seeds to provide better solutions for farmers, stay close to its customers and increase the global food security for future generations”.

Advanta Seeds’ global R&D engine is comprised of 16 research stations and 2 biotech centers in strategic locations. The company has over 50 years of experience in plant genetics research with crops such as sorghum, corn, sunflower, canola and Advanta Seeds’ regional crops such as rice, wheat, vegetables and mustard.