08:30

Registration desk open

09:00

Plenary program

• Keynote lecture by Christine Gould, Founder & CEO at GIGA (Switzerland)
  

  Christine will share how new technologies, such as AI-powered tools for crop improvement, are poised to create $4.5 trillion in economic opportunities annually. She  will dive into the barriers preventing these innovations from scaling - such as fragmented value chains and lack of investment - and offer concrete strategies to overcome these hurdles. She will give insights into building impactful collaborations, leveraging new investment models, and unlocking market-ready solutions that can drive meaningful change for people, planet, and profit.

09:45

Break

10:30

Parallel sessions part 1

• 1A. Realizing the potential of plant genetic resources by leveraging cutting edge technologies
  

  Accessing and utilizing diverse plant genetic resources enables researchers and breeders to develop new crop varieties that are resilient to pests, diseases and environmental stresses, thereby improving global food security. This session will discuss strategies to use these gene banks to develop of future crops.

  Presentations by

  • Dr. Nora P. Castañeda-Álvarez, Science Project Coordinator at The Global Crop Diversity Trust (Germany)
  • Dr. Christoph Dockter, Head of Cereal Breeding & Trait Development at Carlsberg Research Laboratory (Denmark)
  • Ir. Tonny van den Boom, Global Genetic Resource Coordinator Vegetable Seeds at BASF (NL)
  • Prof. Dr. Markus Stetter, Group Leader at Institute for Plant Sciences, University of Cologne

• 1B. New gene-editing (enabling) technologies for crop improvement
  

  The increased use of gene-editing in agriculture can change the way we approach plant breeding and accelerate the discovery and deployment of innovations that offer growers more productive and resilient crops. This session showcases breakthrough developments in gene-editing approaches and -technologies that boost agricultural innovation.

  Presentations by

  • Dr. William Pelton, Co-founder and CEO at Phytoform (UK)
  • Dr. Joris van Arensbergen, Founder and CEO at Annogen (NL)
  • Giacomo Bastianelli, Rainbow Crops (Belgium)
  • Dr. Lennart Hoengenaert, Coordinator Crop Genome Engineering Facility at VIB - University of Ghent (Belgium)

12:30

Lunch, networking and exhibition

13:30

Parallel sessions part 2

• 2A. Navigating the Nexus: Intellectual property and regulatory challenges in plant breeding
  

  hosted by Troutman Pepper Locke

  Intellectual property (IP) and regulatory frameworks play a crucial role in shaping the plant breeding sector. This session explores the complex interplay between IP rights, evolving regulations and their impact on innovation, market access and the use of technology. Participants will gain insight into navigating these challenges to foster collaboration, protect innovations and drive sustainable progress in plant breeding.

  Presentations by

  • Tate Tischner, Partner | Registered Patent Attorney at Troutman Pepper Locke (US)
  • Thea van der Wijk, VP Intellectual Property & Legal Affairs at Keygene (NL)
  • Martin Quanz, Senior Patent Council at Bayer Intellectual Property (Germany)
  • Fleur Tuinzing-Westerhuis, Counsel at Houthoff (Netherlands)

• 2B. How to accelerate crop breeding
  

  hosted by VITO Remote Sensing

  As climate change and population growth increase, the demand to accelerate plant breeding and develop innovative traits is essential. This session explores how these developments are improving crop breeding efforts so that plant breeders can rapidly develop cultivars that meet global demand for food, nutrition, and fibre.

  Presentations by

  • Petra van Bergeijk, KeyGene (NL)
  • Shifan Ding, Global Product Manager at ID Biotech (China)
  • Dr. Michel Ragot, CEO at DELTAGee (US)
  • Francisco Vilela Pereira, R&D Climate Adaptation in Agriculture at VITO (Belgium)

15:30

Break

16:15

Plenary pitch program

Academic institutes and startups will get the possibility to pitch their innovative technology, -service or -product to the audience from the international agri-food industry.

Pitching companies:

• to be announced

The pitch program is supported by biotope ^{by VIB} , CEPLAS and StartLife.

17:45

Reception

19:00

Conference dinner

Venue to be announced

08:30

Registration desk open

09:00

Start plenary program

• Prof. Dr. Maria von Korff Schmising, Institute for Plant Genetics at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (Germany)
  

  Keynote lecture about the importance of exploring natural sources for developing traits for the future.

09:45

Break

10:30

Parallel sessions part 3

• 3A. The changing plant breeding sector
  

  hosted by MolGen

  The plant breeding sector is undergoing rapid transformation due to technological advances, changing regulations and evolving market demands. This session explores key trends reshaping the sector, including the integration of genomic tools, precision breeding techniques and digital agriculture. Join us to discover how these changes are redefining plant breeding practices and what opportunities they present for innovation and sustainability in agriculture.

  Presentations by

  • Dr. Arjen van Tunen, CEO at TunenAgroFood B.V. advice and coaching (NL)
  • Dr. Fred Van Ex, Managing Director at Inari (Belgium)

• 3B. New crops, applications and commercialisation strategies for the agricultural bioeconomy
  

  Given the challenges of climate change and the need for a transition to circular economies, the known space of agricultural applications is rapidly expanding, as is the potential of plant breeding and engineering techniques. There is now an opportunity to breed crops to produce materials or high-value bioactive compounds such as pharmaceuticals and biologicals. How are these applications being developed and what are the business models are being used to bring them to the market.

  Presentations by

  • Dr. Pádraic Flood, Founder & CEO Aardaia (NL)
  • Dr. Ingrid van der Meer, Manager Business Unit Bioscience at Wageningen University & Research (NL)
  • Kathy Munkvold PhD, Scientific Program Director - Crop Production Systems at Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (US)
  • Prof. Wout Boerjan, Professor at Ghent University (Belgium)

12:30

Lunch, networking and exhibition

13:30

Parallel sessions part 4

• 4A. Partnering & collaboration strategies in AgTech: How to succeed in the collaboration dynamics between corporates and startups?
  

  hosted by biotope by VIB

  Successful partnerships between corporations and startups are crucial for driving innovation in AgTech. This session will explores effective strategies for fostering collaboration, aligning goals and leveraging the strengths of both large organizations and agile startups. Participants will gain insight into dealing with challenges, building trust and creating mutually beneficial partnerships that accelerate advances in agricultural technology and address global food security challenges.

  Presentations by

  • David Dessers, Founding Partner at CRESCO (Belgium)
  • Scott Jarrett, CEO Elaniti (UK)
  • Dr. Pernille Ollendorf Hede, CEO at Healthycrop (Denmark)

• 4B. Applications of artificial intelligence, machine learning and deep learning in plant breeding
  

  Rapid advances in genomics, phenomics and molecular biology are accelerating crop breeding into the era of artificial intelligence. This session explores the broader potential of AI tools in various facets of breeding, including data collection, unlocking genetic diversity in genebanks  and bridging the gap between genotype and phenotype to facilitate crop breeding.

  Presentations by

  • Prof. Aalt-Jan van Dijk, professor Data Analysis in the Life Sciences at University of Amsterdam (NL)
  • Finn Gaida, Co-Founder & CTO at NoMaze (Germany)
  • Martin Lercher, Professor of Computational Cell Biology at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (Germany)
  • Anna Freudenreich, Researcher in Bioinformatics and AI at KeyGene (NL)

15:30

Break

16:15

Closing conference program

17:00

Closing conference reception

18:30

End of conference