Jim Blome has been named Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer of Valent u.S.a. Corporation. Blome will oversee all day-to-day operations of the company’s growing agricultural, professional and consumer products business units in the U. S. and Canada and will work closely with Valent’s leadership team.
Devgen has appointed Rudi Marien and orlando de Ponti to its Board of Directors. Marien was the Co-founder, Reference Shareholder and Chairman of the biotech company Innogenetics and brings experience in the management of both private and public businesses. De Ponti is the President of the International Seed Federation and holds various other external positions.
gebisa ejeta, Distinguished Professor of Agronomy at Purdue University, has received the World Food Prize for research leading to the increased production and availability of sorghum in Africa. Ejeta, a plant breeder and geneticist, developed sorghum varieties resistant to drought and striga, a parasitic weed. Ejeta will receive his award this October.
Innovotech Inc. has selected Ken Boutilier as its new Chief Executive Officer following the retirement of Wolfgang Muhs. Muhs will continue in his position as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Innovotech. Boutilier has been with Innovotech in a senior management position since the company’s inception.
the governing Board of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-arid tropics has appointed Director General, William Dar, for a third five-year term in office from January 2010 to December 2014. Dar says the third term gives him the opportunity to continue leading a world-class team that delivers high-quality science research products that improve the livelihood of poor dryland farmers and to grow the institute to the next level.
Syngenta has promoted Jack Bernens to the newly created position of Head of Technology Acceptance in North America and has named Rex Martin his successor as Head of Industry
Relations. Bernens will work with public, private and government institutions seeking understanding and support for Syngenta seeds and trait technologies. Martin will manage the company’s involvement with the Leadership At Its Best program.
Peter eckes has been appointed President and CEO of BaSF Plant Science in Limburgerhof, Germany. Eckes joined the company in 1992 and held the position of Senior Vice-President of Global Research and Development Crop Protection since 2002.
Precision laboratories has released ProSurge, a catalytic soybean seed treatment that helps double-crop soybeans manage stress by maintaining essential cellular functions and preventing cell activity shutdown. “Double-cropping soybeans is a valuable practice, as long as the risks are managed,” says Terry Culp, Vice-President of Seed Enhancement and Nutrients at Precision Laboratories. “Managing stress to promote healthy, vigorous plants is essential, and ProSurge provides the improved performance the plants need.”
Monsanto Company and BaSF scientists have discovered that a naturally-occurring gene can help corn plants combat drought conditions and confer yield stability during periods of inadequate water supplies. The companies will use the gene in their first-generation drought-tolerant corn product which is designed to provide yield stability to farmers. This product will be the first biotechnology-derived drought-tolerant crop in the world. The drought-tolerant corn product is targeted for as early as 2012 pending appropriate regulatory approvals. Both companies have completed regulatory submissions for cultivation in the U.S. and Canada and for import to Mexico, the EU and Colombia.
Becker underwood has signed agreements with Mcgill university and Plant Bioscience limited for access to two new technologies. The commercial licensing agreement with McGill grants Becker exclusive rights to patented nitrogen-fixing technology. The technology is shown to be highly effective in stimulating rhizobia to produce increased nodule formation and greater nitrogen fixation in legume crops. Becker anticipates commercial availability of its first products with this new technology for next spring. Also, Plant Bioscience Limited and Becker have signed an agreement granting Becker exclusive global marketing rights to a patented new seed treatment technology. When applied as a seed treatment it appears to result in long-lasting protection following germination.
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