Press Releases

Evogene Ltd. (TASE: EVGN) and Zeraim Gedera, announced today a further extension of their joint program for the development of salt tolerant tomato varieties.  The first salt tolerant tomato varieties developed under this program, initiated in 2004, were commercially launched in 2010.

Salinity is a key limiting factor affecting approximately 20% of all irrigated cultivated land worldwide and is caused by poor irrigation practices and continuing accumulation of salts in greenhouse soil.  

“It is our pleasure to announce the continuation of our long term collaboration with Evogene in developing salt tolerance tomato rootstocks. Evogene, with its unique systems and innovative solutions, has been a key partner for this unique and complex project” says Shai Leviatov, Head of Zeraim Gedera R&D.  “Salt tolerance in key crops like tomatoes is one of the possible solutions” he adds.

"We are delighted to build on our success to date under our collaboration with Zeraim Gedera, a leading company in the development of vegetable varieties" stated Dr. Hagai Karchi, Evogene's EVP Development and CTO. "With salinity being a major challenge in today's agriculture, the tomato varieties being developed under this collaboration are expected to offer improved solutions to allow growers worldwide to maintain high yields under disadvantageous soil conditions."  

About Zeraim Gedera

Zeraim Gedera, is one of the world's leading companies in vegetable varietal development. Since its establishment in 1952, the Company is known for its expertise in developing innovative, added value varieties, enabling farmers to plant the seeds of fresh produce sought by consumers around the world. 
In Zeraim, a dedicated team of in-house breeders conducts intensive research and field studies in order to develop varieties that will meet market demands. Some of the leading breeding programs are conducted in conjunction with leading Israeli Agricultural Research Institutes & companies. For additional information, please visit Zeraim Gedera website at www.zeraim.com.

About Evogene

Evogene is a world leading developer of improved plant traits, such as yield and drought tolerance, for a wide diversity of key crops through the use of plant genomics. The company is focusing on providing a complete solution for plant trait improvement through combining state of the art biotechnology and advanced breeding methods, based on its computational genomic technologies: ATHLETE 3.0 for gene discovery; RePack for gene expression optimization and EvoBreed for breeding enhancement. Evogene's technology also combines high throughput plant validation systems, field experiments and proprietary genomic data creation.  Evogene is collaborating with world leading seed companies to introduce its technology into key commercial crops. Evogene's headquarters are in Rehovot, Israel, and its stock is traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE: EVGN). For additional information, please visit Evogene’s website at www.evogene.com.