A major player in field seeds
Vilmorin & Cie creates, produces and distributes field seeds for farmers.
Corn, wheat, sunflower and rapeseed are the four strategic crops defined by Vilmorin & Cie. Two of them are global: corn and wheat. Providing a multi-species offer, Vilmorin & Cie also develops a diversified portfolio of crops adapted to each region where it operates : barley, soybean, millet, rice and pulse. Vilmorin & Cie’s field seeds activities cover Europe, Americas, and, since 2010, Asia and Africa.
Field seeds in Europe
Corn, straw cereals (wheat and barley), sunflower and rapeseed, which represent the core products of Vilmorin & Cie’s portfolio in Europe, are powerful creators of value, in the short-, medium- and long-term.
Vilmorin & Cie optimizes the market cover in Europe through:
- a product line segmented according to strategic interest,
- a specific marketing and commercial approach in particular through privileged commercial partnerships with European cooperative distribution networks.
Corn seeds in North America(2) (United States and Canada)
AgReliant, a 50/50 joint venture set up in July 2000 with the German seed group KWS, breeds, produces and sells corn and soybean seeds in the United States and Canada. Research, production, distribution and administration are all today fully pooled. AgReliant is today positioned as the third largest player on the corn market in the United Stated, which is the largest world market for value.
(2)Bearing in mind the application of the standard IFRS 11, AgReliant has been recorded in the accounts using the equity method since fiscal year 2014-2015.
Field seeds in South America
Following the example of its North American positions in corn, Vilmorin & Cie has succeeded in gaining significant market shares in South America, not only for this crop, but also for soybean, sunflower and wheat. Initiated at the end of 2018, its expansion in this region was built up through its Business Unit Limagrain South America(3) and the acquisition of the companies Geneze in Brazil and Sursem in Argentina.
(3)Limagrain Cereal Seeds and Limagrain South America were merged on July 1, 2022 to form the Business Unit Limagrain Americas.
Field seeds in development regions
To go beyond its main positions in Europe and its expansion in the Americas, Vilmorin & Cie made the strategic choice, in 2010, to internationalize its Field Seeds activities on two other markets with high development potential: Asia and Africa.
In each of these regions, the Company has a structured organization for research, production and sales development, with the research and strategic marketing functions remaining global. Similarly, the networking of genetic resources between the tropical and temperate zones of the world (in particular for corn) makes it possible to optimize the management of germplasm* and increase the efficiency of research.
