ZEMEDELSKY VYZKUM, SPOL SRO

Their core work

Zemedelsky Vyzkum is a private Czech agricultural research company based in Troubsko, near Brno, specializing in crop breeding and agronomic research. Their core work involves legume and forage crop improvement through molecular breeding, phenotyping, and genomic selection techniques. More recently, they have expanded into bioeconomy policy and education — helping Central and Eastern European countries build capacity for bio-based industries. They bridge hands-on plant science with regional bioeconomy strategy development.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their early H2020 work (2017–2021) was firmly rooted in applied plant science — legume breeding, molecular genetics, phenotyping, and climate-resilient crop development. From 2019 onward, they shifted toward bioeconomy policy, circular economy governance, and workforce education for bio-based industries. This evolution suggests a company moving from purely technical crop research toward a broader advisory and capacity-building role in the CEE bioeconomy ecosystem.

They are transitioning from a pure crop research company toward a bioeconomy knowledge broker — expect future involvement in policy coordination, skills development, and bio-based value chain projects across Central and Eastern Europe.

How they like to work

They participate exclusively as a partner, never coordinating — suggesting they contribute specialized expertise rather than leading consortium management. With 83 unique partners across 26 countries from just 3 projects, they operate within large international consortia (averaging ~28 partners per project). This makes them experienced in multi-country collaborative research but likely dependent on larger institutions for project leadership.

Despite only 3 projects, they have built a remarkably wide network of 83 partners across 26 countries, reflecting their participation in large-scale EU coordination and research actions. Their network spans most of Europe with particular relevance to CEE countries through the BIOEAST initiative.

What sets them apart

As a private Czech SME with both molecular breeding lab capability and bioeconomy policy experience, they occupy an unusual niche — most crop breeding companies don't do policy work, and most policy consultancies can't do genomic selection. Their location in the Czech Republic and involvement in BIOEAST makes them a natural bridge for consortia that need CEE agricultural representation. For partners seeking a compact, flexible company rather than a large bureaucratic institute, they offer a practical alternative.

Highlights from their portfolio

• EUCLEG
  Their largest funded project (EUR 132,862) and most technically deep — an EU-China collaboration on legume protein self-sufficiency using advanced genomic breeding tools.
• BIOEASTsUP
  Their best-funded single project (EUR 166,625) and a strategic pivot into CEE bioeconomy policy — connecting them to the BIOEAST macro-regional initiative across 11 countries.