Breeding High-yielding Hybrid Rice Varieties

kaiima bio-agritech ltd. and bayer cropscience joined forces to develop advanced varieties of hybrid rice. this multi-year project’s goal is to increase growers’ yields in major rice-cultivating countries. the aim of the collaboration is to focus on the breeding of new high-yielding hybrid rice varieties while employing kaiima’s proprietary enhanced ploidy (ep™) technology and bayer’s elite rice germplasm.

kaiima has been able to successfully utilize the benefits of polyploidy by developing its breakthrough, non-gmo ep™ technology. ep™ significantly boosts plants’ productivity when applied to high-impact food crops. ep™ is based on the genome duplication phenomenon which occurs naturally in plants, and is considered as one of the most important evolutionary processes that plants use to adapt to stressful environmental changes.

dr. steve calhoun, international rice breeding manager for bayer said: “we are always eager to partner with innovative scientists around the world to bring sustainable solutions to our customers”. “we look forward to working with kaiima to take hybrid rice to the next level.”

dr. doron gal, ceo of kaiima said “there needs to be a collective effort to sustainably address food security”. “we are pleased to partner with bayer cropscience – a global leader in innovative crop science – to develop a breakthrough in one of the world’s most widely cultivated food crops,” he added. “by applying our technology to bayer’s elite rice varieties, we can together bring new solutions to farmers that will help improve yield stability and secure productivity today and for years to come.”