Interview with Santiago Díaz and Francisco Villanueva, Managing Director of Huerta Valle Hibri2 and Director of R&D&I: “Funding from CDTI Innovación and FEDER funds allows us to achieve greater traceability and quality in our hybrid seeds.”
The Málaga-based company Huerta Valle Hibri2 is driving Garantseed, an innovative high-throughput genotyping project that guarantees the traceability and quality of its hybrid seeds. The project is co-funded by CDTI Innovación and European FEDER funds and strengthens the company’s leadership in the horticultural sector while boosting the competitiveness of the Spanish innovation ecosystem.
With more than 20 years of experience in seed multiplication, Huerta Valle Hibri2 has consolidated its position as a trusted supplier to leading companies in horticultural genetic breeding. Located on the Costa del Sol, in Vélez-Málaga, the company offers custom hybrid seed production, collaborations in research and development of new varieties, and quality control services covering both the domestic market and exports to EU countries such as France and the Netherlands. With a team of 30 professionals, three of whom work in R&D, the company has achieved sustained growth supported by technological innovation and product quality.
Santiago Díaz, shareholder and managing director of Huerta Valle Hibri2, explains that the company was founded to respond to the growing demand for hybrid seeds with high quality standards. “Our goal has always been to offer versatility, trust, and security to the seed companies we work with,” he notes. This philosophy, combined with a strong focus on research, has enabled the company to allocate 10% of its turnover to R&D projects and to consolidate collaborations at both national and international levels.
The Garantseed project, funded through CDTI grants and European FEDER funds, arose from the need to ensure the quality of the hybridization process from the very beginning. “The aim is to identify potential contaminant plants among male pollinators, control the pollen used for hybridizations, and ensure the varietal purity of the seed,” explains Francisco Villanueva. This approach helps minimize risks in a process that has historically relied on visual checks and experience, which can be limited when working with highly diverse genetic material.
The project focuses on implementing high-throughput genotyping technologies, adapting existing methodologies such as competitive allele-specific PCR and high-resolution melting PCR to enable the identification of multiple markers and a higher number of samples per reaction. According to Villanueva, “this speeds up the genotyping process, allowing us to characterize a much larger number of individuals in a short period of time.” In addition, the company is exploring high-throughput digital PCR to establish contaminant detection thresholds in complex matrices such as pollen.
The main challenge of the project, Villanueva stresses, has been working with highly diverse genetic material with no prior information. “To address this, one of the first steps was to identify a set of highly polymorphic markers in commercial tomato varieties. This involved extensive testing and trials, but we ultimately achieved a robust marker package that allows fast and reliable genetic profiling.”
A key component of Garantseed is the collaboration with the horticultural breeding group at IHSM La Mayora (CSIC), led by Dr. María Urrutia and Dr. Rafael Fernández-Muñoz. “From the moment we shared our intention to improve genotyping capabilities, we worked together to establish strategies tailored to our specific needs and objectives,” explains Díaz. Villanueva adds that La Mayora contributes “its expertise in the development and validation of molecular markers, while we provide key plant genetic resources and our capacity for large-scale implementation.”
This collaboration has been decisive in developing innovative genotyping protocols specifically designed for Huerta Valle Hibri2’s use cases, enabling the consolidation of a differentiated technological solution that improves the traceability and security of the seeds produced.
According to Díaz, the funding received has been crucial in accelerating the project’s development and strengthening the company’s competitiveness. “This support has been key to reducing the financial risk associated with R&D and consolidating a team capable of offering a differentiated solution to our clients,” he notes. He adds that such funding “has a very positive effect in terms of revenue generated per euro of public capital invested, reinforcing the competitiveness and productivity of the innovative business fabric.”
European funding has also helped strengthen collaboration with technology centers and universities, fostering more balanced regional economic development and knowledge transfer to the company. “It creates high-quality jobs, promotes training and retention of qualified talent, and encourages technological solutions aligned with key priorities such as horticultural improvement and plant production,” Díaz affirms.
With Garantseed, Huerta Valle Hibri2 aims to bring this new genetic control service to its national and international clients. “Our market is extremely sensitive, and the pre-commercial lines entrusted to us by clients are very valuable plant genetic resources,” explains Díaz. The traceability and genetic purity provided by the project help maintain customer trust and differentiate the company’s offering from competitors, particularly those in third countries where labor costs are lower.
Díaz emphasizes that the company’s strategy is not focused on price competition, but on superior quality: “Genetic control at three critical stages—identification of contaminant male plants, detection of pollen contamination, and confirmation of the hybrid nature of the seed—allows us to provide security and quality that set us apart from competitors.”
Beyond Garantseed, Huerta Valle Hibri2 has achieved significant technological advances in recent years. The company participates in plant health projects such as Virtigation under the Horizon 2020 program and in internal developments aimed at improving energy efficiency, water use, and the robotization of production processes. “These projects have allowed us not only to innovate, but also to make our processes more sustainable and efficient,” Díaz states.
The company continues its strategy of organic, sustained growth, focusing its efforts on improving traceability, product quality, and innovation in the seed sector. With 80% of its sales directed to exports within the EU and 20% to the domestic market, the company is strengthening its international expansion.
The medium-term objective of Garantseed is to consolidate comprehensive genetic control that guarantees quality throughout the entire production process. “We expect the results to give us control over male plants, pollen, and the final seed, allowing us to differentiate ourselves from the competition and offer a superior-quality product,” says Díaz. He adds that this commitment to excellence “consolidates our position in markets where quality and product safety are decisive factors, even above production cost.”
In addition, the project reinforces Huerta Valle Hibri2’s position as a benchmark for technological innovation applied to the horticultural sector, generating a tangible economic and social impact by promoting skilled employment, knowledge transfer, and sustainable practices.
For Díaz and Villanueva, the success of Garantseed and of the company is based on combining innovation, quality, and collaboration. “Our commitment is to offer technological solutions that respond to real market needs and, at the same time, generate benefits for society and the Spanish innovation ecosystem,” explains Díaz. “The combination of internal resources, strategic alliances, and European funding allows us to move forward with confidence, reduce risks, and offer differentiated products that add value to our clients and to the sector as a whole,” he concludes.
With this project, Huerta Valle Hibri2 aims to strengthen its leadership in the hybrid seed sector, consolidating a trajectory based on quality, traceability, and innovation, with a clear focus on international expansion and positive impact on the Spanish and European innovation ecosystem.
The Centre for the Development of Technology and Innovation (CDTI E.P.E.) is the innovation agency of Spain’s Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities. Its mission is to promote technological innovation within the business sector and to ensure that Spanish companies transform scientific and technical knowledge into globally competitive, sustainable, and inclusive growth. In 2024, within the framework of a new strategic plan, CDTI provided more than €2.3 billion in support to Spanish companies and startups.
Web: www.cdti.es
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/29815
X: https://twitter.com/CDTI_innovacion
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/CDTIoficial
Image: Seed samples from Huerta Valle Hibri2
cloud technology axon
Addleshaw Goddard (AG), the London-headquartered international law fir...
