New Corteva Research Center in Hungary will support sustainable agriculture

Date:09-04-2020

By Igor Teslenko, President Europe at Corteva

Corteva Agriscience teams in Europe are working tirelessly to provide farmers in Europe and beyond with a toolbox of solutions to address crop management challenges in a sustainable way. Our product portfolio reflects the importance of sustainability and now, thanks to a new R&D Center in Hungary, our scientists can better innovate for a more resilient food system.

The opening of the Corteva multicrop and multipurpose Research Center in Szeged, Hungary, is good news for farmers, consumers and the environment. By bringing together three of our R&D units, we can better collaborate and deliver ground-breaking solutions for farmers in Hungary and other European countries. The expertise from the Center will help meet our ultimate goal of enriching lives for those who produce and those who consume, offering farmers complete solutions that help them maximize productivity while protecting their crops and minimizing the environmental impact.

The newly integrated Szeged center is also in keeping with our recently announced 2030 Sustainability Goals, highlighting our unwavering commitment to develop and deploy innovative and sustainable agricultural solutions for the greater good and the communities we serve. Our 2030 goals include a commitment to ensure that every new product meets specific sustainability criteria. And the Szeged integration enables us to do just that, while establishing a creative environment for innovation and operational excellence using the synergies of three previously separate facilities.

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With a total investment of €1.6m, Szeged is one of Corteva’s largest multicrop and multipurpose Research Centers in Europe. The plant breeding team at Szeged is responsible for corn and sunflower breeding and product development based on the Pioneer^® brand’s elite germplasm. The goal of this team is to develop hybrids for customers with advanced yield and agronomical qualities, including heat stress tolerance which is prevalent condition in continental Europe.

Innovation is nothing new to the Szeged team, with previous breeding work having contributed to many market-shaping products, including the Express herbicide tolerant sunflower hybrids, high-oleic sunflower seeds, and the market-leading Optimum AQUAmax corn line. The team’s parent characterization capabilities and production research activities also support Corteva’s seed production facility in nearby Szarvas.

The Integrated Field Science team at Szeged focuses on developing new weed, insect, and disease management solutions, as well as seed applied technologies and biologicals through in-field research and trialing.

 As stakeholders around our region look at how to meet the EU’s Farm to Fork Strategy for a fair, healthy and environmentally friendly food system in Europe, we at Corteva are excited to be putting our expertise to good use in developing sustainable solutions to benefit farmers, consumers and the future of our planet.