Santiago Díaz and Francisco Villanueva, Manager of Huerta Valle Hibri2 and Director of R+D+I: “The financing of CDTI Innovation and FEDER funds allows us to achieve greater traceability and quality in our hybrid seeds”

Huerta Valle Hibri2, with more than 20 years of experience in seed multiplication, has consolidated its position as a trusted supplier of leading companies in horticultural genetic improvement. Located on Malaga’s Costa del Sol, in Vélez-Málaga, the company offers on-demand hybrid seed production, research and development collaborations on new varieties and quality control services covering both the domestic market and exports to EU countries such as France and Holland. With a team of 30 professionals, three of whom work in R&D, the company has achieved sustained growth based on technological innovation and the quality of its products.

Santiago Díaz, shareholder and manager of Huerta Valle Hibri2, explains that the company was founded to respond to the growing demand for hybrid seeds with high quality standards. “Our goal has always been to offer versatility, confidence and security to the seed houses we work with,” they say. This philosophy, combined with a focus on research, has allowed them to allocate 10% of their turnover to R&D projects and consolidate collaborations both nationally and internationally.

Quality and traceability

The Guarantee project, financed with CDTI grants and European ERDF funds, arises from the need to guarantee the quality of the hybridization process from its inception. “It is about identifying possible contaminating plants among the male pollinators, controlling the pollen used for the hybridizations and ensuring the varietal purity of the seed,” explains Francisco Villanueva. This approach allows to minimize risks in a process that has historically depended on visual controls and experience, which can be limited when working with very diverse genetic material.

The project focuses on the implementation of high-throughput genotyping technologies, which adapt previous methodologies such as competitive allele-specific PCR and high-resolution fusión PCR to allow the identification of multiple markers and a greater number of samples per reaction. This, according to Villanueva, “speeds up the genotyping process, allowing us to characterize a much larger number of individuals in a short period of time.” In addition, the company is exploring high-performance digital PCR to establish contaminant detection thresholds in complex arrays, such as pollen.

The main challenge of the project, underlines Villanueva, has been to work with a genetic material of great diversity and without prior information. “To address this, one of the first steps was to identify a set of highly polymorphic markers in commercial tomato varieties. This involved a lot of testing, but we finally got a solid marker package that allows us to do a fast and reliable genetic profiling.”

Facilities of the company Huerta Valle Hibri2

Strategic collaboration

A key component of Guarantseed is the collaboration with the horticultural improvement group of the IHSM La Mayora (CSIC), led by Dr. María Urrutia and Dr. Rafael Fernández-Muñoz. “Since we transferred our intention to improve genotyping capabilities to them, we worked together to establish strategies that were adapted to our specific needs and objectives,” explains Díaz. For its part, Villanueva adds that from La Mayora they contribute “their experience in development and validation of molecular markers, while we contribute with the key phytogenetic resources and our capacity for large-scale implementation”.

This collaboration has been decisive to develop innovative genotyping protocols specifically aimed at the Huerta Valle Hibri2 casuistics, allowing to consolidate a differentiating technological solution that improves the traceability and safety of the seeds produced.

Impact of public funding

According to Díaz, the aid received has been crucial to accelerate the development of the project and strengthen the competitiveness of the company. “This assistance has been key to reducing the financial risk associated with R&D and consolidating a team capable of offering a differentiating solution to our customers,” says Díaz. He adds that this aid “has a very positive effect in terms of income generated by invested public capital, strengthening the competitiveness and productivity of the innovative business fabric.”

In addition, European funding has made it possible to strengthen collaboration with technology centres and universities, promoting more balanced regional economic development and the transfer of knowledge to the company. “It generates quality employment, promotes the training and establishment of qualified talent and promotes technological solutions aligned with key priorities, such as horticultural improvement and plant production,” says Díaz.

International marketing and expansion

With Guarantee, Huerta Valle Hibri2 seeks to transfer this new genetic control service to its national and international customers. “Our market is very sensitive and the pre-commercial lines that customers entrust to us are a very valuable plant genetic resource,” explains Díaz. The traceability and genetic purity provided by the project allows to maintain the confidence of customers and differentiate the offer against competitors, especially from third countries where the workforce is cheaper.

Díaz highlights that the company’s strategy is not focused on competing for price, but on offering superior quality: “Genetic control in three critical stages — identification of male contaminating plants, detection of pollen contamination and confirmation of the hybrid nature of the seed — allows us to provide security and quality that sets us apart from our competitors.”

Innovation and sustainability as a driving force

Huerta Valle Hibri2 has achieved significant technological advances in recent years, beyond Guarantseed. The company participates in plant health projects such as Virtigation of the Horizon 2020 program and in internal developments to improve energy efficiency, water use and the robotization of production processes. “These projects have allowed us not only to innovate, but also to make our processes more sustainable and efficient,” says Díaz.

The company continues its organic and sustained growth strategy, focusing its efforts on improving traceability, product quality and innovation in the seed sector. With 80% of its export-oriented sales in the EU and 20% in the domestic market, the company underpins its international expansion.

Seed samples from the company Huerta Valle Hibri2

Projection to five years

The medium-term objective of Beneseed is to consolidate a comprehensive genetic control that guarantees quality throughout the production process. “We hope that the results will allow us to have control over the male plants, the pollen and the final seed, which will allow us to differentiate ourselves from the competition and offer a product of superior quality,” says Díaz. He adds that this commitment to excellence “consolidates our position in markets where the quality and safety of the product are decisive factors, even above the cost of production.”

In addition, the project strengthens the position of Huerta Valle Hibri2 as a reference in technological innovation applied to the horticultural sector, generating a tangible impact in both the economic and social spheres, by promoting qualified employment, knowledge transfer and sustainable practices.

The commitment to responsible and competitive innovation

For Díaz and Villanueva, the success of Warranties Seed and the company is based on combining innovation, quality and collaboration. “Our commitment is to offer technological solutions that respond to real market needs and that, at the same time, generate benefits for society and the innovative Spanish ecosystem,” explains Díaz. “The combination of internal resources, strategic alliances and European financing allows us to move forward safely, reduce risks and offer differentiating products that add value to our customers and the sector in general,” he concludes.

With this project, Huerta Valle Hibri2 seeks to strengthen its leadership in the hybrid seed sector, consolidating a trajectory based on quality, traceability and innovation, with a focus on international expansion and positive impact for the innovative Spanish and European ecosystem.

CDTI Innovation

The Center for Technological Development and Innovation, CDTI E.P.E. It is the innovation agency of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, whose objective is the promotion of technological innovation in the business environment. The mission of the CDTI is to ensure that the Spanish business fabric generates and transforms scientific and technical knowledge into globally competitive, sustainable and inclusive growth. In 2024, within the framework of a new strategic plan, the CDTI provided more than 2.3 billion euros of support to Spanish companies and startups.

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