United Beet Innovation Centre (UBIC)
In September 2024, DLF Beet Seed and the Beets & Chicory Business Unit of Groupe Florimond Desprez entered into a joint venture called United Beet Seeds (UBS). Since then, the HILLESHÖG brand is part of the UBS umbrella company and benefits from its shared resources, technology and research.
At UBS’s United Beet Innovation Centre (UBIC) in Tienen, Belgium, our in-house experts research the sugar beet varieties of the future, for all possible climates and regions where sugar beets grow.
There, we analyse:
- Climates
- Soil types
- Pests and diseases
- Agronomic measures (e.g. fertiliser, plant protection products)
That way, we can develop the best possible sugar beet varieties for farmers and industry, tailored to different agricultural situations.
Cutting-edge sugar beet research
- The UBIC consists of more than 13,000 square metres of glasshouses and 2,000 square metres of laboratories, including:
- The Product Innovation department, with breeders and specialised scientists
- The Phytopathology laboratories and greenhouses to support breeding (e.g. pests and diseases)
- Tests for abiotic stress (e.g. heat, drought, light intensity, air humidity, soil fertility, …)
Each research compartment at the UBIC can be climate-controlled separately, no matter the weather and the season outside. It enables us to create the ideal conditions for sugar beet research, seed production and growing, allowing the breeding process to move forward faster. A lot of procedures in the UBIC are automated, significantly increasing our capacity.
Of the millions of plants that undergo extensive research at the UBIC, only a few selected seeds originating from father and mother plants actually continue in the breeding process. The most promising offspring are multiplied on a larger scale to provide a wide range of potential candidates. We continuously eliminate the plants that fall short of our high standards – that’s how we ensure that only the very best sugar beet varieties are launched on the market.