Plant Breeding

DSV’s entrepreneurial activities centre on developing new plant varieties. This is the basis for all other activity areas.

A wide range of grass, oil plant, cereal and clover species as well as various catch crops are processed, in some cases in close cooperation with partners. The seed breeding and testing stations in Thüle, Hof Steimke, Leutewitz and Boldebuck (all in Germany) together cover over 200 hectares of breeding, testing and demonstration areas. With our partner Norddeutsche Pflanzenzucht, an extensive breeding programme geared to the North American market is operated by the jointly owned firm DL Seeds. DSV also runs its own breeding stations in Semonville (France) and Wardington (United Kingdom). Breeding activities are additionally conducted by Euro Grass Breeding in Ven-Zelderheide, (Netherlands) and Les Rosiers and Verneuil (Rega) in France.

The aim of the seed breeding activities is to make constantly improved varieties for commercially and ecologically successful plant production available to farmers at home and abroad. DSV and its partners therefore develop varieties that unite a high standard of yield, quality and resistance properties.

The responsible breeders have extensive, genetically broad-based breeding material and use a wide range of methods to create a diversity of forms from this parent material, making it possible to select varieties with the desired properties and property combinations in systematic testing and selection steps.

The varieties are subjected to intensive testing under a whole range of site conditions (soil, climate, …) at home and abroad. Over 26 testing sites located all over the country are used for this purpose in Germany alone. These are supplemented by more than 70 further testing sites abroad covering all the major climate zones of Europe and North America.