the-new-facilities-of-les-cases-de-barbens

New facilities at

Las Casas de Barbens

Antonio Fitó

Jaime Fitó

Semillas Fitó is a family-owned multinational company. Its current fourth-generation directors — in their 70s and boasting fifty years of total dedication to the company — are proud to present the company’s new processing and logistics centre in Lleida.

The facilities, located in a 135-hectare estate, are geared toward research of field crop species, especially corn and sunflower.

We hope to improve the logistics of field crop seeds for Spain, Portugal, France, Switzerland and Italy.

This centre complements the facilities built in Turkey in 2009 from where we supply the Eastern Mediterranean, and countries of the Near and Middle East and Central Asia.

We take this opportunity to thank the company’s fifth generation for twenty years of working in the company and the launch of centres in Culiacán (Mexico), Arica (Chile) and Bangalore (India) and sales subsidiaries in Central and South America, Asia and Africa.

Las Casas de Barbens Leading European corn breeding centre

After years of improvements and works, we are pleased to announce that the Las Casas de Barbens breeding and logistics centre is ready.

These facilities, located right in Lleida’s Ebro Valley, aim to be a benchmark in Fitó’s strategy for breeding corn and other field crop varieties.

The facility features the breeding station, where the goal is to obtain new varieties suitable to the weather conditions of Southeast Europe.

The centre has been equipped with new technologies applied to corn crops (irrigation system, fertilisation, sowing density, disease resistance, etc.) as tools to facilitate varietal improvement.

But research extends beyond corn to include alternative crops such as alfalfa, sunflower, sorghum, etc. The farm boasts a total of 135 hectares dedicated to field crop research and breeding.

In addition, the new processing and logistics centre for all the company’s field crop varieties has been built on the site. It is the largest seed logistics centre in Southern Europe. In total, the facilities offer 250,000 m3 of warehouses with 40,000 m3 of cold storage, which can be expanded to 60,000 m3. The project has received an investment of over 10 million euros.

Brief timeline: • 2011: Fitó acquisition of the Las Casas de Barbens estate.

• 2012: The estate was modernised by changing the irrigation system from flood irrigation to sprinkler and drip irrigation and by starting to consider initial testing of new varieties.

• 2013: Full development of the Semillas Fitó corn cultivation research plan for Southern Europe.

• 2014: Construction begins on the warehouses to be used as logistics centre for field crop varieties.

• 2015: Works are completed and the centre begins operations to handle orders for field crops varieties.

In total the facilities offer 250,000 m3 of warehouses with 40,000 m3 of cold storage, which can be expanded to 60,000 m3.

SEED PROCESSING

R&D

FINISHED AND REFRIGERATED PRODUCT

HANDLING AND DISINFECTION

RAW MATERIAL

OFFICES AND LABORATORY

FINISHED PRODUCT

Our varieties Corn

Our Field Crops R&D centres

The corn catalogue currently features 90 varieties, providing solutions to the needs of farmers in such diverse areas as Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

Sunflower Sunflowers have become a range of strategic products for Semillas Fitó in recent years, driven by a targeted improvement plan. Today’s sunflower offer comprises sunflower varieties with high oleic and linoleic productive potential.

BARBENS (Lleida) • FAO 400-650 corn (grain) • Forage

Sorghum The sorghum varieties featured in the Semillas Fitó catalogue are ideal for animal feed, boasting high production and digestibility rates.

DON BENITO (Badajoz) • FAO 600-800 corn (grain / silage) • Sunflower

Forage Semillas Fitó is a leader in the forage range, offering a complete range of grasses and legumes. The launch of the new Fitomix forage formula range has strengthened Semillas Fitó as a leader in the market of forage seeds.

Cereal The range of soft and hard wheat and triticale is very popular in many markets for its high levels of productivity and quality.

DELLEY (Switzerland) • FAO 200-400 corn (grain / silage) • Forage

Turf grasses Semillas Fitó is the leading company supplying pure and mixture varieties of turf seed adapted to the Mediterranean climate. The best golf courses and sports fields use our product range.

CABRERA (Barcelona) • Biotechnology projects • Molecular markers

For more information visit our website: www.semillasfito.com

Selva de Mar, 111 • 08019 Barcelona • Tel. 93 303 63 60 • Fax 93 303 63 73 • info@semillasfito.com

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