BASF and NRGene sign research collaboration to expedite crop breeding

BASF SE, the renowned German chemical firm, and Israel-based Genomics company, NRGene, have reportedly announced a new research collaboration agreement that revolves around the adoption of the cloud-based AI (artificial intelligence) technology, developed by NRGene, into the soybean research projects of BASF.
The AI-powered GenoMAGIC technology would allow for evaluations that are more comprehensive to expedite the trait discovery as well as breeding throughout a diverse array of crops.
The Senior Vice President of Seeds and Traits, Agricultural Solutions, BASF, Rick Turner stated that the proposed collaboration would explore the overall power held by digitalization to enhance and expedite agriculture research and aligns perfectly with the company’s soybean crop system plan.
Turner further added that both organizations are focused upon the development and delivery of technologies to farmers in an effort to help them protect their crops, grow better harvests and deliver more value to the society as it faces a mounting environmental challenge.
For the record, the advanced multipurpose breeding platform by NRGene is a solution that is cloud-based for managing the entire genomic diversity of the crop species. The platform can analyze copious amounts of genomic data, enabling breeders and scientists to relate genomic sequences more easily with beneficial traits. This makes trait mapping and genomic selection much more productive.
The Head of Seeds Technologies and Analytics, BASF, Rene van Schaik stated that BASF remains committed to facilitate farmers with significantly more productive seeds and unveiling top-of-the-line technologies to help unlock their respective genetic potential.
Schaik further added that the company’s focus on data allows BASF to make more better breeding decisions than before, and through GenoMAGIC, the company expects to deliver its research teams with a view that is more comprehensive so as to improve their decisions and analyses.
The CEO of NRGene, Dr. Gil Ronen stated that the company is thrilled to commence this collaboration journey in soybean with BASF. Over the past years, the company has accumulated a significant amount of data and specific soy competences, which would add values in the BASF collaboration to make their breeding more efficient and productive.
According to reports, the financials associated to the research collaboration agreement has not been unveiled yet.
 
Source credit: https://www.basf.com/global/en/media/news-releases/2019/10/p-19-372.html