PeaBoost: the alliance for genetic excellence of the pea

Who are we?

The Groupement d'Intérêt Économique (GIE) PeaBoost is a unique structure created in February 2024 by three French leaders in plant breeding: Limagrain, Florimond Desprez and RAGT, with the financial support of Sofiprotéol.

Born from a shared determination to address the decline of pea cultivation in France, the GIE serves as the operational arm and coordinator of the ambitious Pea4Ever research programme. By uniting historically competing forces, PeaBoost creates an unprecedented critical mass of financial, technical and genetic resources for this species.

Mission & governance

Our mission

GIE PeaBoost's mission is to coordinate and steer the Pea4Ever programme, pooling the research resources of its members to advance genetic progress in peas.

In practice, the GIE organises inter-company crosses, coordinates multi-site trials and ensures the link between academic research and the needs of the sector. It guarantees a collaborative framework where data and genetic material are shared equitably among members.

Governance

Board of Directors

It is composed of one representative from each of the three member seed companies and one representative from Sofiprotéol, the strategic financial partner.

Technical Steering Committee

Composed of 2 representatives from each Member's R&D teams, and 2 sector representatives with complementary skills, from Sofiprotéol & Terres Inovia

Project Management

The GIE is led by David Gouache, an expert in coordinating major agricultural R&D programmes, alongside Florian Barthès, pea expert and breeder.

GIE objectives

GIE PeaBoost has been structured to fulfil four fundamental objectives:

Central coordination

Steer all scientific and technical actions of the Pea4Ever programme.

Resource pooling

Organise the sharing of genetic resources, R&D tools and phenotyping infrastructure among its members.

Financial and administrative interface

Ensure reporting to public funders (Ministry of Agriculture) and private funders (oilseed-protein sector consortium).

Innovation leadership

Carry out pooled research activities, genotyping, high-throughput phenotyping, and industrial pilot processing.

Organisation chart

The operational team

David Gouache

Directeur

Florian Barthès

Coordinateur technique

Our founding members

Strategic and scientific partners

PeaBoost's success relies on a collaborative ecosystem of excellence:

Academic Research

Plusieurs unités de l'INRAE (IGEPP, Agroécologie, BioEcoAgro, IRHS, GQE), l'Université de Toulouse, CSIC, UM6P, UniLasalle

Technical and public institutes

Terres Inovia, le GEVES et la FNAMS.

Sector support

Sofiprotéol (chef de file des financeurs privés), Terres Univia (interprofession), la FOP (producteurs), ainsi que les organismes collecteurs via les holdings FIDICOOP et FINEGOCE.