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Sakata Seed America announces formation of Controlled Environment Agriculture department

Sakata Seed America announced the formation of a Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) department. The new department will focus on indoor agriculture, a segment of the produce industry that focuses both on traditional greenhouse production as well as specialized vertical farming.

According to Justin Davis, Sakata’s director of sales and marketing, this new group is designed to bolster the company’s leadership role in developing varieties for controlled environment agriculture.

“We have been focused on this segment for a number of years, especially in the leafy greens category. The timing is ideal for Sakata to create this group to hone our efforts on CEA in order to bring more products to the market for indoor ag,” Davis said in a released statement.

“I think there is tremendous growth opportunity in serving the Controlled Environment Agriculture segment, and I’m very pleased that Sakata is continuing its leadership in the market. This is something that I’m passionate about and have been active in for the past several years,” said Tracy Lee, who will be leading the new division.

Lee has previously worked in product development and home garden and farm market vegetable seed sales for the company for more than a decade. Prior to her work at Sakata, she held product management, marketing and sales positions at vegetable and flower seed companies for an additional 10 years. Her field of study at Clemson University focused on sustainable vegetable production, and she also earned a Master of Science in horticulture.

“I feel that my background and specific work with indoor growers gives me unique insight into the market’s needs. My goal is to harness my experience in the field and bring the right mindset back to Sakata as we develop new products created specifically for CEA,” Lee said.