b"THE FUTURE OF POTATOES:TRUE SEEDS, HYBRID BREEDING, AND A NEW COMMERCIAL ERAA QUIET REVOLUTION IN AGRICULTURE IS TAKING ROOTAND IT STARTS WITH A SEED.BY: MARCEL BRUINSF or generations, potatoes have been propagated using tubers:This level of genetic control has long been common in crops heavy, disease-prone, and expensive to transport. But now,like corn and tomatoesbut achieving it in potatoes is a significant Solyntaa Dutch pioneer in agricultural innovationisscientific milestone. Now, with a strong foundation of elite parental reshaping the future of potato farming through hybrid true potatolines and a growing pipeline of hybrids, Solynta is shifting gears to seeds (TPS). This breakthrough is built on nearly two decades ofcommercialize its innovations at scale.intensive research and development. Today, Solynta is entering aAfter 18 years of focused R&D, were entering the commercial bold new chapter: moving from innovation to implementation, fromphase, said Charles Miller, Solyntas director of strategic alliances research to real-world impact. and development. Were ready to deliver real value to farmers, seed producers, and food systems around the world.FROM DISCOVERY TO DELIVERY Solynta CEO Peter Poortinga emphasized the importance of Solynta has developed a proprietary hybrid breeding platform thatunderstanding farmers' needs when introducing groundbreaking brings precision, speed, and resilience to potato cultivation. Itstechnology.hybrid TPS varieties offer consistent performance, higher yields,When introducing a completely new technology, it is essential and robust resistance to key threats like late blight, drought, andto know where your products are able to make a huge difference in heat. the daily lives of potato growers, said Poortinga. We believe that true potato seeds will have great impact on the lives of many potato growers in regions where it is difficult or impossible to have access to quality starting material, in terms of food security and farmer economics. Our strategy is based on delivering high quality true potato seeds that contain our innovative genetics. We are introduc-ing these true potato seed varieties to farmers around the globe; to improve their success by reducing the need for chemicals, stabilizing and increasing their yield, and improving their overall profitability.A SEED BUILT FOR MODERN AGRICULTUREHybrid true potato seeds offer benefits that traditional seed tubers simply cant match. They are clean and disease-free at the point of delivery, dramatically lowering the risk of spreading pathogens. Theyre also compact and lightweightreducing transportation costs by up to 99% and opening access to remote or underserved markets.For farmers, this translates into lower input costs, healthier fields, and more predictable harvests. And because hybrid breeding allows for faster development of new traits, growers can benefit from improved varieties in a fraction of the time it takes using conven-tional methods.We have identified several essential resistance genes, and incorporated those in our breeding activities, said Edwin van der Vossen, Solynta head of research & development. Many of our newest NON-GMO varieties now have a very high tolerance to late blight. Currently, we are continuing to focus on new traits that will provide additional beneficial characteristics to the future potato varieties. That is the big advantage of our non-GMO hybrid potato breeding technology: we can quickly breed new varieties, Solynta seeds, berries and potato. very focused and data-driven. Our focus will be on developing new 14ISEED WORLD EUROPEISEEDWORLD.COM/EUROPE | SEPTEMBER 2025"