Simon Groot
Simon Nanne Groot(born 1934)[1][2]is a Dutchagronomistwhose work has focused on producingdisease resistantcrops and improving seed growth and development. He is the founder of the company East West Seed and is the 2019 winner of theWorld Food Prize.[1][3]
Childhood and education
[edit]Born into a family of crop seed cultivators in 1934 in the city ofEnkhuizen,Netherlands,Groot was a sixth-generation member of the family business,Sluis & Groot.He received a degree inbusiness economicsfromErasmus University Rotterdam.[4]
Career
[edit]
By 1981, Groot's family business had to be sold, prompting him to develop his own company named East West Seed with the money made from the family sale.[5]He officially launched the company in 1982 with Benito Domingo, a fellow seed seller located in thePhilippines.[6]The focus of the company was to develop and sell improved seed cultivars with an aim toward impoverished regions of the world that could most benefit from more disease-resistant and hardier crops. The company began selling in the Philippines first andThailandby the late 1980s before expanding intoIndonesiain the 1990s and the rest ofSoutheast Asia.The sale of seeds to countries inAfricabegan in the late 2000s, focusing onEast Africa.TheF1 hybridsdeveloped by Groot were made using local cultivars, including the creation of a popular variety ofThai pepper.[5]
Groot noted that it was initially difficult to get farmers in the Philippines to commit to using hybrid seeds, with only 20 percent of the farming population in the country committing to the idea by 1992.[7]The Access to Seeds Index published in 2016 rated companies which provided seed cultivars to developing countries: East West Seed came top for East Africa and for vegetable seeds globally. The company said that Groot'sbitter gourdhybrid was one of the most popular seeds sold.[8]By 2019, Groot's hybrid cultivars were being sold in over 60 countries throughout the developing world.[9]
Awards and honors
[edit]Groot was given the 2015 Mansholt Award for sustainable entrepreneurship for his work with East West Seed in providing seed cultivars to improve the agriculture ofdeveloping countries.[10]In early 2019, he was given anhonoraryDoctor of Laws degree from theUniversity of the Philippines Los Baños.[4]In 2019, he was awarded theWorld Food Prizefor "his transformative role in empowering millions of smallholder farmers in more than 60 countries to earn greater incomes through enhanced vegetable production, benefiting hundreds of millions of consumers with greater access to nutritious vegetables for healthy diets."[1]
References
[edit]- ^abc"2019: Groot".worldfoodprize.org.World Food Prize.June 2019.Archivedfrom the original on 3 December 2021.Retrieved15 November2022.
- ^van der Lee, Hans (March 2012)."Probeer 'Nederland 1960' te exporteren"[Try exporting 'Netherlands 1960'].Berichten Buitenland Special(in Dutch).Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation.p. 4.Retrieved15 November2022.
- ^Eller, Donnelle (10 June 2019)."Founder of a Dutch seed company named 2019 World Food Prize winner".The Des Moines Register.Retrieved15 November2022.
- ^abTayao-Juego, Annelle (30 June 2019)."He is Groot".Philippine Daily Inquirer.Retrieved17 November2022.
- ^ab"De zaden van Simon Groot (84) zorgen voor minder honger en meer winst voor miljoenen"[The seeds of Simon Groot (84) ensure less hunger and more profit for millions].Nederlandse Omroep Stichting(in Dutch). 14 June 2019.Retrieved15 November2022.
- ^"The Netherlands Knights Filipina Agriculture Advocate".BusinessMirror.29 April 2021.Retrieved17 November2022– viaGale.
- ^Sarian, Zac B. (19 March 2018)."Agrikultura"[Agriculture].Liwayway(in Filipino).Retrieved17 November2022.
- ^Smouter, Karel (1 March 2016)."Een lijst met de wereldwijde toegang tot zaden, schieten we daar iets mee op?"[A list of worldwide access to seeds, does that help us?].De Correspondent(in Dutch).Retrieved15 November2022.
- ^Madhvi, Sally (30 September 2019)."Help smallholder farmers thrive economically: Simon Groot".The Economic Times.Retrieved17 November2022– viaGale.
- ^van der Scheer, Ton (25 February 2016)."Zaadbedrijven langs maatschappelijke meetlat"[Seed companies on a social yardstick].Groenten & Fruit(in Dutch).Retrieved15 November2022.