The Rijk Zwaan Brassica Assortment
Rijk Zwaan has a long lasting reputation with breeding cauliflower and kohlrabi. More than ten years ago Rijk Zwaan decided to concentrate even more intensively on breeding Brassica. We have made considerable investments in capacity by taking over the breeding station specialising in headed cabbage in Marne, northern Germany. Together with the R&D teams in Fijnaart, the Netherlands and in Murcia, Spain, a breeding programme was drawn up.
Wide range
The goal was ambitious: an internationally competetive range of modern varieties across the entire Brassica front. Not only did that mean breeding white, red, and savoy cabbage and cauliflower, but also kohlrabi and broccoli. Through the years this list was extended with green cauliflower, Romanesco, and semi-savoy cabbage. For the fresh market or processing industries. For spring, summer, autumn or winter.
Two-year cycle
A breeding programme of more than ten years may seem long, but that is not the case for cabbage. Cabbage is a biennial crop. So each cycle of crossing,
selecting and producing takes two years. In order to obtain good results it takes at least five cycles of crossing,selecting and seed production. And once we have found a good variety, enough seed of it has to be produced. Only when we ourselves are convinced of the quality of our varieties and seed do we market them.
Serious player
During Brassica Year 2008, Rijk Zwaan gave extra attention to Brassicas worldwide. And with great success. The crowds in the demo fields, the positive feedback afterwards and the high expectations for the future all indicate that when it comes to Brassica crops, Rijk Zwaan is now a serious player.
With no less than 25 events in 22 countries, last year we put great effort in showing our assortment. A huge action but with a local approach, what made it possible to show the best assortment on every demo field, depending on the season. But there was more: expert advice, interesting lectures and appropriate buffets to exchange knowledge and experiences. In doing so we have generated a lot of
enthusiasm with thousands of visitors.
Continuous search
We are pleased that we can really present ourselves as a Brassica company now. In all Brassica segments we have varieties that perform well, where quality and crop characteristics are concerned. Looking at it internationally, we are covering an ever increasing share of the market and the search for top varieties continues unabated. After all, breeding is a continuous process and we are already growing a number of promising new varieties in trials.
Ad van den Nieuwenhuizen
Michael Kreitz
Christian Spangenberg