Flower Council of Holland                 Flowers

Basic Material Newsletter Feb 2005

Three questions on innovation put to the President of the AIPH (International Organisation of Horticultural Producers)

Leiden, February 2005 – Dr. Doeke Faber is the President of the AIPH. Prompted by a report from the Dutch Platform for Innovation concerning the innovative power of the Dutch breeding sector, the Flower Council of Holland put three questions to him.

“What is the global significance of innovation in floricultural products?
Dr. Faber: “Innovation in the floricultural sector regularly leads to new, better quality, healthier and more reliable varieties that eventually contribute to better profits for the producer, wherever in the world he operates. As a consequence of its international character, the Dutch breeding sector is the absolute leader when it comes to gearing to local growing circumstances such as climate, consumer demands and sustainability. It is safe to say that the innovative power of the Dutch breeding sector contributes to the improvement of floricultural production all over the world.”

“How significant is the part of the Dutch breeders in this?”
Dr. Faber: “Very significant. Forty percent of total sales of parental material for the floricultural sector are in Dutch hands. If they are to keep competitors at bay and respond adequately to the huge domestic market, which is constantly crying out for new products, Dutch breeders must work continuously on new developments. Consequently the levels of know-how and knowledge in the Netherlands are extremely high, both with regard to breeding techniques and methods and marketing”.

“How could this role be used more efficiently to benefit producers all over the world?”
Dr. Faber: “The continuous expansion of internationalisation means that, in future, a knowledge of current and anticipated events and developments on the international markets, as well as the demands within the distribution chain, will be increasingly crucial. The breeding sector must provide growers with good parental material that will lead not only to improved production and profits, but will also raise consumer satisfaction and, by extension, improve sales. This means more, better and different.
The benefits of the sector’s powers of innovation will continue to improve as a result of cooperation within the distribution chain at domestic and international levels, with all efforts geared to sustainability and Corporate Social responsibility.”


Vigilance required despite Breeder’s Rights

Leiden, February 2005 – When a product that is subject to Breeder’s Rights is multiplied by a propagator, it is a wise precaution to have such material checked at regular intervals.
After the plant material has been produced for a certain length of time it may well be that it is no longer exactly identical to the material for which the application for Breeder’s Rights was originally made to the registration authority. This would mean that the actual basic material produced was no longer identical to the variety description issued by the registration authority. This, in turn, would mean that the plant material in question would no longer be protected under Breeder’s Rights with all the attendant consequences.
Propagators who use basic material to produce new plants generally do this using the best plants. This is the policy of many such organisations. However, it can lead to the production of plants to which the variety description no longer applies and, in this case, it is necessary to make a renewed application for Breeder’s Rights.
Only the variety owner can check, or commission the checking of his variety, to determine whether it still conforms to the original specification. He can do this by allowing the plants to be compared by the authority that originally granted the Breeder’s Rights. In the Netherlands this is the Breeder’s Rights Council. This organisation keeps a collection of plant varieties for which Breeder’s Rights have been granted at some time, either in the form of living plants or as frozen specimens (albeit under minimal climatic conditions).
The innate desire of breeders and propagators to keep improving their products, can actually have undesirable consequences, i.e. Breeder’s Rights can cease to apply.



Need a brownish purple flower? Use an Anthurium

Leiden, February 2005 – The first colour that comes to the mind of most consumers when they think of Anthurium is red. However, Anthuriums with brownish purple blooms have appeared to fill a gap in the market that no other flower has been able to fit.
Although the brownish purple varieties of Anthurium are officially assigned to the colour purple in the colour statistics of the Dutch Association of Flower and Plant Auctions (VBN), the trade often refers to them as ‘brown’.
All of the ‘big three’ Dutch Anthurium breeders have brownish purple cultivars in their assortments. In recent years Anthura, Florist and AVO Vogels have all launched new cultivars, so that the proportion of brown flowered Anthuriums now makes up around 10% of the total assortment, which, by the way, is still dominated by the red varieties, closely followed by the green and green edged varieties. When it comes to finding a brownish flower with exotic looks, florists are hardly spoiled for choice and for this reason Anthuriums in this special colour are always warmly welcomed.
VBN statistics show that ‘Choco’ by Anthura is the most frequently grown variety in the Netherlands, followed by the terracotta coloured ‘Terra’, also by Anthura, ‘Cognac’ and ‘Safari’. The striking and long lasting ‘Chicas’ by Florist De Kwakel is also expected to be a success and ‘AVO Naomi’ will soon be added to the AVO Vogels brownish purple assortment alongside ‘AVO Barbara’.

The trend in brownish purple Anthuriums is towards darker cultivars, with the exotically coloured new ’Tropic Night’ by Anthura currently leading the way.


Glue plugs for Chrysanthemums?

Leiden, February 2005 – Growing Chrysanthemums is probably the most mechanised form of cultivation in the flower sector. Now mechanisation can be taken yet further thanks to the glue plug.

Planting robots for soil blocks are already in general use. Currently a combined research programme by the Department of practical plant and environmental research (PPO) at the agricultural knowledge centre of Wageningen University is looking into the possibilities of using unrooted cuttings, pushed directly into the soil between the holes in netting. Mobilising Chrysanthemum cultivation is another option under review.

A further development currently undergoing practical testing, is the use of the glue plug. This involves making a plug of extremely light sphagnum moss with the aid of a biodegradable adhesive. Tests to date have shown that unrooted cuttings got off to a better start, while continued growth was virtually perfect and that the harvested flowers were heavier. All these are benefits of great significance to a producer.

There is one major difference compared with the current soil blocks: the plugs are pushed into the soil while the soil blocks remain on top. This means that a new planting machine will be needed, which will actually be considerably cheaper than the machine used for planting soil blocks.

Using a much lighter material than that used for the familiar, sticky soil blocks is a great advantage as it is a well-known fact that Chrysanthemum cuttings take root and grow better in a light medium.

Glue plugs are already in use for growing border plants and some houseplants. One other problem still needs to be solved however: plugs cost about € 4 per 1000 more than soil blocks. This would involve an increase of 10% in the price of a supplied cutting. The production of one million Chrysanthemums would therefore cost € 4.000 more if plugs were used. In today’s economic climate, where every cent counts, this could mean the difference between profit and loss.





Business news

Recently Florensis of Zwijndrecht (www.florensis.nl) launched a number of new products onto the market. One of these is Brassica Fuji Pink Bicolour, which colours more quickly than ‘White Crane’, providing an earlier harvest in summer. It can also be successfully grown under glass, resulting in a longer cultivation season.

Florensis also reports that its partnership in the field of production with Combifleur in ’s-Gravenzande (www.combifleur.nl) has been expanded. Cooperation in this field is expected to provide benefits because the products, although supplied by other breeders, are largely the same. Deliveries from the same growing region also enhance the efficiency of both firms, whilst each firm is committed to its own identity and both of these will be retained. Sales of products exclusive to either of the firms are excluded from the partnership. This applies to, among other things, the Florensis Lisianthus range. However, the production of young Lisianthus plants for Florensis is actually done by Combifleur. Product support will also remain separate.

Royal van Zanten of Rijsenhout (www.royalvanzanten.com) has published a new catalogue showing the cut Alstroemeria range. The catalogue is in six languages and is lavishly illustrated as well as containing all the relevant product information schematically arranged. In a bid to emphasise the personal relationship with the customers, a photograph of every member of the Royal van Zanten Alstroemeria department is included in the new catalogue.



Horteve Breeding of De Kwakel (Email: kees.eveleens@wanadoo.nl) has published a brochure containing useful information about the company, its strategy and assortment. In 2003 Royal Eveleens (now Florema) became Horteve Breeding. The organisation is exclusively involved in breeding Hydrangeas for the garden, for cutting and as houseplants. The basic material for the cut flower assortment is supplied to growers by Gebr. Kolster, Boskoop (www.kolster.nl). Hogenboom of De Kwakel supplies the basic material for the cultivation of garden and houseplants. The supplier in France, (a significant market for Hydrangea) is Hortensias France Production and the supplier to other European countries is Florema Youngplants (www.florema.nl). All Horteve cultivars are protected under Breeder’s Rights.

Chrysanthemum Breeders Association NV (CBA) of Rijsenhout (www.cba-nv.com) has published its new 2005 catalogue. CBA, one of the leading breeders of spray Chrysanthemums, santinis, disbudded Chrysanthemums and pot Chrysanthemums has used both standard product photography and photographs showing trends in the contemporary use of the various types of Chrysanthemums in its catalogue.
Multiflora® pot Chrysanthemums are highlighted as is the new assortment of disbudded Chrysanthemums. Naturally the catalogue also contains the names and addresses of the various agencies throughout the world that sell the CBA varieties. CBA is a company in which Royal van Zanten and Sunfield Holland each hold 50% of the shares.



Interplant BV of Leersum (www.interplant.nl) recently launched its new website. The website is extremely user friendly due to the well-organised search engine. Interplant also provides information about the breeding process and gives a list of the agents who sell the cultivars produced by this Dutch rose breeder all over the world. Interplant came to fame in the early nineties when it reinstated the floribunda rose as a popular cut flower following an intensive breeding programme. Examples include the Lydia and Flash series and ‘Macarena’. Since then the supply range has been extended by a large flowered assortment including ‘Dakar’ and ‘Royal Class’ and a small flowered assortment of which ‘Chelsea’ is a fine example.




Visit our flowers page

Back to the Flower Council Article index.

About the Author:

The Flower Council of Holland
Schipholweg 1
2316 XB Leiden
The Netherlands
Tel.: +31-71-5659565
Email: info@flowercouncil.org
Internet: www.flowercouncil.org
 

For more information about other services and products choose from one of the following links: