Nunhems lettuce

Nunhems, the vegetable seed division of agricultural research and development company Bayer CropScience, has relocated its US research laboratory activities from Brooks, Oregon, to Davis in California.

The company has also transferred its produce quality analysis facilities to the new site, although the Brooks centre will continue to serve as a major breeding station.

Explaining the move, Nunhems' managing director for R&D Johan Peleman said that with plant science research moving forward at amazing speed, it was vital for the group to keep ahead of such developments.

'The University of California at Davis, one of the world's top plant science institutes, is right around the corner from our new location,' he said. 'This will enable us to keep track of the latest agricultural reesearch and technologies and set up mutually beneficial collaborations with select laboratories.'

In addition to its 26 breeding stations worldwide, Nunhems currently operates global research centres in the Netherlands, India and the US.