Sustainability Report 2016 . 2017 29 Regions of origin of seed components* **2016 2017 Region of origin Tonnes Percent-age Comparison to previous year Tonnes Percent-age Comparison to previous year Handled goods Germany 4,939 40.4 5,410 43.4 EU 6,741 55.1 6,453 51.8 Non-EU 544 4.4 592 4.8 – of which individual components Germany 996 29.6 1,284 34.9 EU 2,149 63.8 2,320 63.1 Non-EU 220 6.5 75 2.0 – of which propagation goods Germany 2,076 97.5 1,168 93.4 EU 85 2.5 80 6.6 Non-EU 0 0 0 0 * The seed components processed centrally via the warehouse in Isernhagen are taken into account here (generally field crops and hybrids). This corresponds to around 15 per cent of the goods traded within the Seed segment, which, in turn, makes up around 50 per cent of the total turnover from seeds. The corresponding drop deliveries are not included here due to the decentralised structure of the seed grain product group.** The data on the origin of handled goods is based on past experience.The regions of origin for seed components traded have largely remained constant. In 2016 and 2017, the only shift from German states of origin towards European countries of origin has been in individual components. The reason for this shift is participation in the First Seed purchasing and trials cooperation group, which has provided access to the North European propagation acreages.First Seed Group – high-performance varieties for practical use AGRAVIS Raiffeisen AG has founded the international purchasing cooperative First Seed Group in conjunction with DAVA Group companies. The company aims to find optimal seed varieties for agriculture in the individual regions and introduce its own varieties onto the market. It has established a European-wide experiment with 18 locations. Advances in breeding are verified in different crops, ranging from winter rapeseed and winter and summer grains through to catch crops and maize in an international testing network. The First Seed Group is already coordinating joint purchases and undertaking concerted experiments for new varieties.AGRAVIS agricultural centres There are regional AGRAVIS agricultural centres wherever there is no active cooperative and business is thus trans-acted directly with the farmer. The regional agricultural centres collect and trade in agricultural raw materials such as grain and oleaginous fruits. Raw material collection at the AGRAVIS agricultural centres*2016 2017 Tonnes Comparison to previous year Tonnes Comparison to previous year Grain 4,427,476 4,663,364 Oleaginous fruits 754,293 631,530 Total 5,181,769 5,294,895 * The figures relate to the fully-consolidated companies of the AGRAVIS East and West agricultural centres in 2016 and 2017.✓G4-EN1