How to innovate in a traditional profession : Limagrain and the improvement of plant species

All living species, whether plant or animal, are the result of an evolution which dates back three billion years. Man became sedentary and started cultivating the land. He selected empirically plant species which produced the best harvests. It was not until the end of the nineteenth century that the mechanisms of heredity were described which then launched the study of plant selection. One had to wait for the beginning of the twentieth century before these mechanisms were understood and opened the way for the development of biogenetics. The Limagrain group started off very early in the production of hybrid seeds and was one of the first to invest in biotechnology. Jean-Christophe Gouache describes how a small co-operative in Limagne grew in pace with scientific discoveries to become an international group, with six hundred owner-members (all farmers) making joint decisions with regard to important strategic questions.