GreenGene AgriBio AG · Basel · Nairobi · Davis, CA
Field trial network across 17 countries.
Agricultural biotechnology · est. 2009
We discover, validate and license climate-resilient traits for the world's staple crops — from gene-editing screens in the glasshouse to multi-site field trials on four continents, in partnership with the seed institutes and co-operatives who grow them.
Traits co-developed with seed institutes, co-operatives and regulators in 17 countries
Partners include Rothwell Seed Institute, DeltaGrain Co-operative, Ibarra Agricultural University, Northvale AgriTrust, Sagen Research Council, Kerala Field Network and Prairie BioLabs.
Biotech solutions
Most traits fail in the field, not in the lab. Ours are screened, modelled and trialled inside the same system — so a line only leaves our glasshouse when the data says it will survive a real season.
High-throughput CRISPR and base-editing screens run across nine staple crops. Candidate edits are ranked by modelled field performance before anything is planted, so glasshouse effort follows the best bets.
1.4Medits screened
Prediction models trained on twenty-two seasons of multi-environment trial data estimate yield, protein and stress response two seasons before a line is ever sown in a partner's field.
22seasons of trial data
Root-colonising consortia that fix atmospheric nitrogen and mobilise soil phosphorus, formulated as a seed coating — growers change nothing about their drill, only their input bill.
−28%synthetic nitrogen
Candidate lines move from controlled-environment chambers to multi-site field trials, replicated across soil types, latitudes and rainfall regimes. Breeding partners see the raw plot data, not a summary of it.
Drought, heat and salinity tolerance bred into elite backgrounds, keeping the agronomic package growers already trust.
38active programmes
Dossiers, biosafety assessment and post-launch monitoring handled by an in-house team that has taken 19 traits through national approvals.
19approvals secured
Crop improvement
Each programme starts with a grower problem — a failed flowering window, a salinity band creeping up a delta, a nitrogen bill that no longer pencils. We work backwards from that problem to a trait, then prove it against the commercial check variety in the same fields.
Indices are relative to the leading commercial check variety, averaged over three seasons of multi-site trials (2023–2025). Trial protocols and plot-level data are available under NDA to licensing partners.
Pipeline
Target genes identified from grower problems and trial archives, then edited and screened in controlled environments.
18 programmesPhenotyping under imposed drought, heat and salinity, with molecular confirmation of every candidate line.
11 programmesReplicated plots across 214 stations and three seasons, independently sampled and analysed per site.
6 programmesBiosafety dossiers filed with national authorities, then co-development or licence agreements with seed partners.
3 in reviewLicensed, not launched at growers
Every trait we license has already spent three seasons in somebody else's field.
GreenGene AgriBio · field trial network, 2023–2025
Sustainability
A trait that buys a good harvest by spending the soil is not an improvement. Every programme is scored on inputs as well as output — water, nitrogen, fuel and soil biology — audited against the baseline of the variety it replaces.
“Two good harvests and the soil report finally agreed with us. The nitrogen bill came down before the yield went up — that is the part nobody expects.”
Idris Ahmadi · arable lead, DeltaGrain Co-operativeResearch team
Our researchers come from plant breeding, microbial ecology and quantitative genetics — and most of them spend part of every season in a partner's field, not just in a laboratory.
Founder
Co-founder & Chief Scientific Officer
Twenty-six years in cereal genetics. Led the drought-tolerance programme that produced our first licensed trait, now grown on 1.1M hectares.
Genomics
Head of Plant Genomics
Built TraitForge, our editing-screening platform, and the genomic selection models that now rank candidates before planting.
Crop improvement
Head of Crop Improvement
Runs the glasshouse-to-field pipeline. Her team scores every line against the commercial check in the same soil and season.
Field science
Director of Field Science
Coordinates 214 trial stations and the agronomy data that decides which traits get released and which get retired.
We are hiring: plant pathologist (Nairobi) · field data engineer (Davis) · regulatory affairs (Basel) · microbial ecologist (remote).
See open rolesPartner with GreenGene
We license traits to seed companies, co-develop programmes with research institutes, and run contracted field trials for public breeding programmes. Tell us which problem you are trying to solve and we will tell you honestly whether our pipeline can help.
Basel · Nairobi · Davis, CA
