The demand for quality starting material is increasing inGreece and other countries on the Balkans. For this reason, Greekpropagation nursery AGRIS extends its focus on the advanced graftedyoung plants with additional consultancy and support.
AGRISis one of the largest GSPP-certified propagators of vegetableseedlings in the Balkans. It was founded in 1983 in Thessalloniki as alocal seed store. In 1987 the company became an important distributorfor the French Seed company, HM Clause. In the year 2001, AGRISexpanded its presence, in the seedlings market with investments in anadvanced propagation nursery. This expansion was extended withfurther investments into new markets beyond Greek borders incountries like Romania and Bulgaria.
The 6 facilities inmultiple countries resulted in a strong presence of AGRIS throughoutSoutheast Europe. The company has a total of 4 hectares of advancednursery greenhouses available as well as 10 high tech healingchambers for grafted 
plants. "We propagate 100 million seedlingsper year", Commercial Director Ioannis Koumoundouros proudlystated, "with the 12 million of them being graftedseedlings."
Tomatoes, watermelons, cucumbers andeggplants are important crops for AGRIS. Koumoundouros sees themarket for grafted seedlings increasing by the year. "Despitethe recession, there is a lot of development taking place in ourregion. Greece farmers and investors are increasingly aware of theopportunities of high tech vegetable cultivation. Compared to 4-5years ago, there are more investments towards mass production ofgreenhouse vegetables. This is also a result of retailers who demandyear round quality."
"We emphasize a moreprofessional industry and have invested a lot of money to providethis development. One of them is our dedication towards grafting,this technique lies at the base of producing better crops andachieving greater yields. We have made significant investments inhigh tech climate chambers with LEDs that are used to provide optimalgrowing conditions to heal our grafted plants."
Accordingto Koumoundouros, Agris did not only invest a lot in the technologyto produce high quality grafted seedlings. "In order to build anindustry you need to do more than just selling seeds or seedlings. Ifyou want to advance this sector, you need to be part of it andconnect all dots from seed to sale. That is why we made investmentsin several advanced trial stations to invite chain partners anddiscuss with them the opportunities of new varieties, rootstock andcomplete marketing plans." Growers, retailers and other chainpartners can see the latest crops at Agris' trial stations, grown inboth soil and hydroponics. The trial stations are located in variousgeographical areas with different climates.
As well asthis, AGRIS is also offering extensive after sales support. "Wego beyond propagating the right variety by offering technical cropconsultancy and advise on a contract base. This is part of ourholistic approach, it is our mission to advance horticulture in ourregion.
For more information:
AGRIS
Ioannis Koumoundouros
+30 23330 53500
koumoundouros@agris.gr
www.agrishorticulture.com