Intersemillas opens a new R＆D center in El Ejido
Source: HD.com
The new facility will allow the company to develop and evaluate its commercial varieties and pipeline materials under real growing conditions, strengthening its research, selection, and plant breeding capabilities. The site was chosen for its prime location within the country's main greenhouse vegetable production zone, enabling Intersemillas to work more closely with growers and industry professionals, speed up the evaluation of new varieties, and accelerate genetic improvement processes to deliver solutions that are increasingly tailored to market needs.
The facility is currently running its first trials for the autumn-winter season, with a particular focus on evaluation programs for pepper, tomato, and eggplant, crops of major economic importance to the region. The trials assess parameters under real growing conditions, including yield, fruit quality, disease resistance, agronomic performance, and adaptability across different cropping windows, generating key data to support the development of future commercial varieties.
With more than four decades of experience serving growers, Intersemillas maintains a firm commitment to plant breeding and knowledge generation, reinforcing its research capacity and consolidating a strategy aimed at providing the agricultural sector with innovative solutions that contribute to a more efficient, profitable, and sustainable form of farming.
Why this matters: For operators, this is a water-management story. The useful signal is that direct substrate measurements can help cut drain loss materially without giving up yield or fruit quality, which is exactly the kind of controllable efficiency gain a facility can build on.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does substrate sensing matter in free-drain strawberry systems?
Because drain percentage tells a grower what already happened, while substrate moisture and EC data show root-zone conditions directly. That makes it easier to cut water loss without guessing.
What is the operator takeaway from this trial?
If the thresholds are understood well enough, growers can reduce drain water materially while protecting yield and fruit quality, which makes sensing an operational tool instead of a reporting tool.
