Kaiima Teams up With Horizon AG to Deliver “High-Performing Rice Varieties”

30 Nov 2016 --- Israeli plants genetics company Kaiima Bio-Agritech has teamed up with US rice-tech company Horizon Ag to leverage what they claim to be a "novel" new breeding tool to produce "high-performing rice varieties". The collaboration will run for a number of years and is focused around Kaiima's EP technology, which is claimed to increase yields and produce a number of other benefits.

EP is a new breeding tool that enhances plant performance by inducing novel diversity within the genome, using the plant's own DNA, according to Kaiima.

It is claimed the benefits of the EP technology are yield increases, improved tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses, efficient project development timelines and improved seed production.

As part of the collaboration, Horizon will be focused on bringing the products to market.

Horizon and Kaiima have recently completed the development phase and are entering the new EP rice varieties in first year yield trials in 2017 in select locations across the US rice growing belt.

"We are excited about our collaboration with Horizon Ag and are eager to obtain favorable initial yield results from our collaboration in 2017," said Rick Greubel, CEO of Kaiima.

"Kaiima's EP technology platform is a powerful tool for breeding programs and we look forward to continuing to work with Horizon Ag to develop better rice varieties that create value for rice growers."

"We believe that Kaiima's vision for sustainable rice production complements Horizon Ag's strengths," said Timothy Walker, general manager of Horizon Ag.

"The combination of Kaiima's EPTM technology with Horizon Ag's proven performance of bringing novel rice seed technologies to market has the potential to bring significant new efficiencies to the rice industry of the Southern United States, and we are pleased to be a part of this effort."