De Lier facility expands company’s breeding capacity for tomatoes, sweet peppers and aubergines
Rijk Zwaan has celebrated the opening of its new greenhouse in De Lier, the Netherlands.
Called ‘De Hybride Phase 2’, the opening marks the next step in the company’s breeding activities for tomato, sweet pepper and aubergine crops, it said.
The new facility creates extra space for research and development related to innovative varieties.
“Besides providing extra space, this expansion underlines Rijk Zwaan’s dedication to research, innovation and the future of vegetable breeding,” outlined Amanda van Oord, breeding manager for sweet pepper and aubergine, at the opening event on 9 December.
“Here, creativity meets science to deliver healthy, resilient and tasty varieties for generations to come.”
At point of opening, the facility already contained young tomato, sweet pepper and aubergine plants, which form the start of the selection process for breeders.
“This expansion features numerous new compartments that will be used for selection trials, variety testing and pre-breeding research,” Van Oord explained.
”We will be able to study a diverse range of plant materials sourced from around the world.”
Multiple market introductions have originated from the De Hybride greenhouse, including the aubergine Pallada, the Clean Leaf concept, the award-winning ready-to-eat snack pepper Tatayoyo, the Sweet Palermo sweet pointed pepper, and ToBRFV-resistant tomato varieties.
In addition to the new selection compartments, the expansion includes a new isolation section for dedicated abiotic stress research, which Rijk Zwaan said is a key focus area.
Here, in smaller compartments, targeted research will investigate mechanisms and genes that can enhance plant resilience, enabling them to cope with extreme conditions such as heat, cold, salinity and drought.
This work is seen as increasingly vital as climate change is resulting in more extreme weather conditions in a growing number of regions.
“This represents a significant leap forward for both seed technology and breeding,” added Van Oord.
