Gro Alliance opens Vegetable Seed Improvement Center in Davis, California

Date:12-19-2024

Gro Alliance announces the opening of its vegetable seed improvement center in Davis, California. The site is the only location in the Western Hemisphere to feature Seed-X’s AI-powered seed improvement technology. It combines world-class imaging and machine learning to sort seed to improve germination, purity, physical quality, and more.

(L to R) Jim Schweigert, president; Meck Slagle, vegetable seed improvement lead; Khushi Chawda, market development intern.

At the core of the improvement center is the revolutionary GeNee™ technology, powered by smart AI. This empowers clients to elevate the quality of their seed lots, minimize unsold inventory, optimize production, and ultimately boost sales and profitability.

″The future of seed improvement is now in Davis!″ Said Jim Schweigert, president of Gro Alliance. ″And this is just step one. Our future work with Seed-X will see this technology achieve improved speed and capabilities which have the potential to completely change the definition and structure of a seed cleaning and sizing facility while greatly reducing lower quality seed.″

Meck Slagle, an industry veteran with experience at Gingko Bioworks and Bayer has joined Gro Alliance as the vegetable seed improvement lead. She’ll be the main point of contact for the Davis location and seed companies. UC Davis student, Khushi Chawda, a 2024 National Association of Plant Breeders Bourlag Scholar, joined the team as a market development intern.