About

NPZ UK Plant Breeding Ltd (NPZ UK)

At present, we are leaders in the spring field bean market, including varieties such as Lynx, Vertigo, Fanfare and newer varieties including Yukon, Macho and Victus. We also have competitive oilseed rape varieties, for example Clubroot resistant varieties Crome and Croozer, HEAR OSR varieties including Resort and Ergo, all of which help the UK farmer to maximise their yield.

We are always looking to the future, with the aim of combining excellence to make a real difference to the UK farming industry. As well as continually developing varieties to help us to grow within our existing markets, we are also always trying to develop further. We have a wheat breeding program in its early stages, along with winter bean and spring combinable pea varieties on the market or near market.

NPZ UK 2025 brochure celebrates 20 years of breeding quality, with full colour fact sheets of all current winter oilseed rape, spring beans, combining peas and spring wheat.An opening article details the NPZ UK team, gives an introduction to NPZ as a whole, and the company’s development over 125 years of success, There is a section on challenges to achieving success with NPZ UK varieties looking at late sowing, Phoma resistance, Light Leaf Spot,Verticillium and Clubroot. The brochure ends with articles on NPZ UK’s history and future, and the development of Norddeutsche Pflanzenzucht over 125 years in Germany.

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NPZ Plant Breeding Ltd (LSPB) is wholly owned by NPZ which is a medium-sized, privately-owned, plant breeding company located in Hohenlieth (Schleswig-Holstein) and Malchow-Poel (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern), Germany.

Founded in 1897, NPZ is a leading breeder of oilseed rape, field beans and field peas with a long track record of breeding successful varieties for the UK grower. Their philosophy is to keep the best of a traditional approach while investing in the latest technologies in plant breeding.

NPZ benefits from a network of international relationships in over 30 countries in Europe and beyond. This gives access to new germplasm, techniques, and different climatic conditions to develop and test new adapted breeding material and varieties. It also brings involvement in a multitude of research projects and use of the latest techniques such as in-vitro tissue culture-techniques, marker-assisted selection, in-vitro analysis of resistance and genomic selection.

Plant breeding today does not really differ in its essentials from plant breeding of the past. It is still a time-intensive process requiring patience and skill. Hence, while technology supports ambitious objectives and plays a huge part in optimising efficiency, the basic process is that breeding aims targeting grower and end-user requirements are determined and then diligently followed over the course of many years until the resulting high performing varieties are available to growers.

NPZ has many more promising varieties in the pipeline, ranging from those about to enter official trials, to others that are still tiny seedlings in the breeder’s glasshouse. Therefore, UK growers can look forward to a continuing stream of varieties with improved yield, agronomy and end market outlets.