Celebrating an Era of Innovation While Looking to the Future: RiceTec Announces the Retirement of Dr. José Ré and Appoints Dr. Amitabh Mohanty as New Head of Global R&D
ALVIN, TX (December 4, 2023) – Since its inception in 1988, RiceTec has been at the forefront of sustainable rice agriculture, continually setting new standards in the industry. Dr. José Ré, a key figure on the company’s leadership team, is retiring from his role of Global Head of Research and Development by end of March 2024.
As we bid farewell to Dr. Re, it is an opportunity to acknowledge the legacy he leaves behind. Under his leadership,the RiceTec R&D program has flourished globally and positioned the company as a leader in sustainable rice agriculture with a market-leading portfolio of commercial hybrids that were launched in India, US, Mercosur, and various export markets. His vision and relentless pursuit of excellence have driven the company to new heights as well as shaped the wider rice seed industry.
Ré's influence extends well beyond RiceTec. He has also served on the Boards of the International Seed Federation and the American Seed Trade Association, which are the voice of the global and US seed industry with a mission to create the best environment for the global movement of healthy, quality seed, and promote plant breeding and innovation in seeds. His tenure on various committees, including more than eight years on the Illegal Seed Practices Coordination Group and nearly 11 years on the Intellectual Property Coordination Group, has been instrumental in lending a voice to the more than 7,000 members in 70 countries. In 2015 Jose was appointed by the US Agriculture Secretary to the US Plant Variety Protection Board, where he served representing the seed industry sector.
Reflecting on Ré's tenure, CEO Karsten Neuffer remarked, “José's 19-year tenure at RiceTec has been characterized by extraordinary leadership and visionary foresight, consistently steering us towards groundbreaking achievements in sustainable rice agriculture. We wish him all the best in his well-deserved retirement.”
Succeeding Dr. Ré will be Dr. Amitabh Mohanty as the new Head of Global Research and Development. An experienced R&D leader with a demonstrated history of innovation and product development, Dr. Mohanty joins us in our vision of a sustainable rice agriculture that creates more value for farmers, consumers, and the planet.
As a member of the executive leadership team, Dr. Mohanty will play a pivotal role in driving forward product development, aligning research initiatives with market demands, and upholding RiceTec’s commitment to sustainability. His expertise will be invaluable in translating RiceTec’s strategy into an actionable R&D agenda, a high-performing product pipeline, overseeing transformation of the global breeding organization, guiding trait discovery and development, and advancing gene editing efforts.
Before joining RiceTec, Dr. Mohanty served at Corteva Agriscience as Leader of Global Biotech Operations, Trait Discovery Operations Leader, and Program Leader, Ag Productivity, and Insect Control Traits.His contributions there were key to the success of their trait pipeline. Dr.Mohanty brings rich experience and expertise in trait discovery, technology, and product development in rice. His domain knowledge is well recognized by external peers. He was invited to serve as a member of the Genome engineering Task Force of the Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India.
Dr. Mohanty holds a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) from the Department of Plant Molecular Biology at the University of Delhi South Campus, India, and did his post-doctoral studies at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory,New York. He is a contributor to scientific literature with numerous journal articles and patents to his name, as well as a rich history of participation in scientific conferences and symposiums.
Dr. Mohanty’s expertise promises to continue our legacy of innovation in sustainable rice agriculture. We look forward to this new era of growth and discovery, firmly committed to our mission for the benefit of farmers,consumers, and the planet.
RiceTec, Adama ink pact for herbicide-tolerant hybrid development
The FullPage™ Rice Cropping Solution and Preface and Postscript herbicides, and SQUAD™ seed treatment technologies have been released by RiceTec and ADAMA for the 2019 growing season. FullPage™ represents a new generation of improved IMI herbicide tolerance for rice seed; improving yields, herbicide tolerance and early-season disease and insect protection. RiceTec will release a limited amount of four long-grain hybrids within the FullPage™ system. FullPage™ hybrids show a marked improvement in tolerance to IMI herbicides. This improved tolerance reduces the risk of crop response during stressful growing conditions and in overlap situations, and increases overall yield. This reduces stress for the grower and improves application, timing and flooding flexibility. The FullPage™ Cropping Solution includes the use of Preface™ (imazethapyr) and Postscript™ (imazamox) herbicides. Preface tackles troublesome rice weeds such as red, weedy and feral rice and barnyard grass. It combines post-emergence and residual activity. Postscript can be applied post-emergence or post-flood for any escapes. The four FullPage™ products being released for 2019 and protected by SQUAD include: RT7321 FP, RT7322 FP, RT7521 FP, and RT7221 FP. These new hybrids will include RiceTec’s new seed treatment system SQUAD™. The SQUAD system highlights a special treatment technology that creates a smooth surface that allows for better seed identification, improved flowability and planting, and more uniform seed distribution throughout the field, along with proven fungicide and insecticide treatments. RiceTec and ADAMA provide this total-package weed management system that is fully supported by a team of technical service representatives to make a positive impact on today’s farmers. These representatives are readily available to assist growers in adjusting to this new cropping solution and advising on best practices for use of Preface and Postscript for each farm.
Rice Seed Major – Savannah® seeds announces acquisition of Ganga Kaveri rice assets.
Gurugram, Haryana based Savannah® Seeds Pvt. Ltd. announced, the acquisition of the rice seed assets of Ganga Kaveri and Spriha Seeds of Hyderabad, India, on February 28, 2019. Ganga Kaveri Seeds is a leading provider of superior rice seed genetics that has been serving Indian farmers for over 30 years. Ganga Kaveri and its “GK” and “Spriha” brands are recognized across India as reliable suppliers of high-quality seeds. The scope and performance of Ganga Kaveri’s product portfolio has supported the growth of the company by providing the right technology to meet the needs of rice farmers of India.
Savannah® Seeds entered the India rice seed business in 2010 and has quickly grown to become one of the leading providers of hybrid rice seeds. Savannah® introduced environment friendly “Smart rice®” technology in India for sustainable rice crop production. Savannah® rice seed products Sava 127, 134, 200 and 300 are very popular among rice growers of north and central region rice farmers.
“This acquisition is the perfect fit for the Savannah® Seeds business in India. The synergies in products, geographies, traits, people and culture will enable us to serve a broader cross-section of Indian rice producers,” said Mike Gumina, Global CEO of RiceTec AG.
As a result of this acquisition, approximately 90 seed professionals will join the Savannah® business. “We are very excited about the opportunity this acquisition brings to accelerate the growth of our seed business and to serve more farmers with our technology across rice growing states in India as well as exports to South East Asian countries,” said Ajai Rana, CEO and Managing Director of Savannah® Seeds.
Thanks for making us most preferred brand of North India
It is very proud moment that Savannah® Seeds have become one of the Most preferred Rice seed brand in North India this year. We thank our smart farmers who with all their trust have started a change by using the smart rice® products, which are new age paddy seeds specially made after years of research to bring more vigor and increase the productivity of farmers with better quality produce.
smart Rice® have been prepared keeping in thought that the ever increasing demand of food can now only be fulfilled by more Productivity from the same unit of land. Hence the POWER of FOUR has made perfect fit for North India and farmers are getting better produce, more productivity.
Looking forward for better Paddy farming, more happy farmers.
Smart Seeding System (SSS) in Paddy Cultivation
Direct seeded crops require less labor and tend to mature faster than transplanted crops. In this method; plants are not subjected to stresses such as being pulled from the soil and re-establishing fine rootlets. Rice can be directly seeded either through dry or wet (pre germinated) seeding. Dry seeding of rice can be done by drilling the seed into a fine seedbed at a depth of 2-3 centimeters. Wet seeding requires leveled fields to be harrowed and then flooded (puddling). The field is left for 12-24 hours after puddling, then germinated seeds (48-72 hours) are sown using a drum seeder.
Every year our Savannah® Technical team demonstrates this technology to farmers who show their inclination to opt for Direct Seeded Rice. We expect soon this technology will become viable for every scale of farmer and entire eco system will develop around it. This technology will surely boost rice production and help farmer get rid of their dependency on manual labor. Any farmer willing to enroll for SSS can reach us at Savannah@Savannahseeds.com or WhatsApp at 9599767127
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