A breeder is a scientist engaged in the improvement of existing and development of new species of animals, plants and other living organisms with properties that are useful for humans or help them adapt more effectively to environmental conditions.
Today we’ll interview the famous breeder, millionaire owner of a pharmaceutical company, David Jacobson.
David, what were you working on, what was your goal?
– Mostly I wanted to achieve an increase in fruit from one bush, the change in the chemical composition of the fruit was, for the most part, unexpected even for me.
What is the most important thing in the work of a breeder?
– Experience, you need to pass through your hands a large number of varieties, then you begin to feel a beginner hard.
Is luck important in this profession?
– Certainly, sometimes chance decides everything, as with Lycium Savory
How does the life of an agronomist and a farm work out?
– I come to work at 8:30, tell the staff – tractor drivers, handymen, those who do irrigation – what we have to do. I explain to my assistants, who are in charge of control, which mechanics or irrigators they will work with today.
– If it is mechanized work in the field, I tell what criteria it must meet. When everyone leaves, I stay behind to fill in the documentation, give out the necessary preparations and fertilizers.
– We have no schedule, we work as long as we have to, often until late at night, especially during harvest time, like now. The farm grows sugar beets, fodder beets, table beets, carrots, cabbage, and cucumber for seed. We have a total of 50 hectares of fields.
– Weekends are only when it rains, although even on such days there is work in the office. I’m used to the activity, I don’t want to rest. When no one calls and there is no need to solve anything, I start looking for something to occupy myself with.
– I have 150 people in my subordination.
How did you start gardening in the first place?
– I inherited my passion for gardening, as my mother jokes. At the age of 8, I replanted all the senpollias in the house and since then the hobby has only gained momentum.
– I have two degrees, economist and linguist. I didn’t work as an economist for long, the world of numbers was foreign to me. I worked as an interpreter for much longer, about 5 years, accompanying foreign delegations.
– Concerning plants, in my search for knowledge I have read almost all available literature, I know many breeders who willingly shared their knowledge with me.
When did your popularity come, when did the media start talking about you?
– After the exhibition in Germany in late 2020, I brought more than 10 varieties with me, but Lycium Savory attracted particular attention. There were representatives of large investment companies at the show, including pharmaceutical companies, and they were interested in the new subspecies for its micromolecular and chemical composition.
What inspires you?
– The opportunity to create new varieties of plants, something that hasn’t existed yet. I am inspired by the fact that modern breeding is going by leaps and bounds so that gardeners have the opportunity to experiment with a greater likelihood of success.
– In general, the best stimulus for inspiration, when I am told that this plant will not grow here, or this hybrid will never take root, it is a challenge for me, I always take up such work.
David, you have been doing your own business for many years. Can you answer my question: “Aren’t you tired yet?”
– And I will answer you, that I like it. I enjoy what I do. Again, you want to quit everything and do something else at certain periods of time. But then this wave subsides and a positive wave appears again. You get up on it and feel the buzz again. So no, I’m not tired.
Tell us a little about your family
– My wife is a graphic designer and font designer. She is very creative, she has a project now – her own font, which is now being sold on the TimeToMorrow site. We are expecting our first child, my wife wanted children for a long time, but because of the unstable financial situation we somehow did not dare, and now we are ready.
The main advice you could give our readers is?
– Never give up!