A small Sydney-based vegetable seeds developer is hoping a strong focus on the local market will help it standout in a highly concentrated market.
Around 80 per cent of the global seeds market is locked up by just two companies, US giant Monsanto and its Swiss rival Syngenta.
Overnight, Monsanto shareholders gave their blessing to a merger with German biotechnology, chemicals and pharmaceuticals company Bayer AG.
While the deal still needs regulatory approval, but its just one of three major mergers in the sector.
Australia's vegetable growers mostly rely on seeds from the larger companies, which leaves the resulting produce vulnerable to Australia's harsh conditions and unique diseases.
Abundant Produce, based out of Sydney University, is breeding tomato, cucumber, zucchini, eggplant, capsicum and pumpkins specifically for the local market.
"Australia only represents 3 per cent of the sales of these large companies that provide the seeds," explains CEO Tony Crimmins.
"They're not actually going to be doing any research to make sure that diseases in Australia won't exist within that plant species.
"Whilst Abundant actually will be looking at those diseases because our priority market is to provide back to Australia."
Mr Crimmins said many successful Australian seeds companies have already been acquired by the big two, so it was important for Australian growers to have a choice.
"At lunch recently I had carrots, potatoes and asparagus on my plate. Over 60 per cent of that product on the plate was owned by two companies; Monsanto and Syngenta."
Mr Crimmins said a recent outbreak of cucumber green mottle mosaic virus (CGMMV) was an example of the benefits local seeds provide.
"At the moment, Australian farmers receive a lot of seeds that are actually bred in Holland, but they come out to Australia, they grow, an Australian-based disease breaks out and the plants are not resistant," he said.
"We use natural selection to make sure the cucumbers we grow are resistant to native and known diseases for crop.
"So if any of the plants we're breeding have CGMMV, we'll remove them from the breeding pool."
Abundant Produce listed on the Australian Stock Exchange earlier in 2016.
