Haelen, The Netherlands
September 26, 2007
On
Friday 14 September adjutant mayor H. Coolen conferred a royal
decoration on dr.ir. O.M.B. de Ponti from Weert, on the occasion
of his retirement as Director of Research & Development at
Nunhems BV. Mr De Ponti
received the insignia appointing him an Officer in the Order of
Oranje Nassau.
Mr de Ponti was employed in various posts at the Wageningen
University & Research Centre. Amongst other things, he
demonstrated that breeding should take place under natural
conditions, in order to avoid losing the genetic resistance to
pathogens. These theories received national and international
recognition and have been a major determining factor in the
development of the seed branch.
Mr de Ponti is still actively involved as a member of the
Advisory Board to the Plant Sciences Group (Wageningen
University), a member of the Project Review Committee at GABI
(Genomalyse im Biologischen System Pflanze) and a member of the
Advisory Board / Supervisory Board of the Technological Top
Institute Green Genetics.
For more than 30 years he has been committed to improving
knowledge levels and developing modern seed breeding, increasing
and transferring expertise relating to resistance management and
communicating the concept of Integrated Pest Management (IPM,
focussed on integrated pest and disease management in crops)
with the aim of responsibly reducing the use of crop protection
agents to a minimum.
His dedication to the sector is illustrated by his leading
position as an initiator of revolutionary and often radically
new ideas. He pays an active contribution to the debate
surrounding the world food problem in relation to genetic
modification.
From 1997 Mr De Ponti has also been active in a variety of board
positions at the International Seed Federation ISF. He currently
occupies the position of Vice-president and is the incoming
President of the ISF.
Until 1 May 2007 Mr De Ponti was employed as the Director of
Research & Development at Nunhems BV. Right from the beginning
he firmly advocated resistance breeding and where possible the
use of special seed coatings. Over the past 15 years he was also
responsible for the worldwide growth of the Nunhems Research &
Development organisation into a total of 20 breeding sites and
three central laboratories in the United States of America, the
Netherlands and India, employing 350 R&D staff.
Today, Orlando de Ponti continues his service to Nunhems in his
role as Senior R&D advisor.
Nunhems® is the global specialist in vegetable seeds and
sharing smart products, concepts and expertise with the
professional horticultural production industry and supply chain.
Its portfolio includes leading varieties and brands in crops
such as leek, onion, carrot, melon, cucumber, tomato,
watermelon, lettuce, pepper and chicory witloof. With annual
sales of EUR 190 million in 2006, Nunhems is among the world´s
four leading vegetable seed companies with an extensive range of
28 species and some 2,500 varieties. With more than 1,200 people
Nunhems is present in all major vegetable production areas in
the world. |
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