Seed production
Our aim is simple: to supply good seed. And as Rijk Zwaan supplies professional vegetable growers, ‘good’ means ‘high quality’. All seed batches are, therefore, followed very closely. From production field to despatch.
Suppose our breeders develop a brilliant brassica. Would you automatically find it in the variety catalogue of Rijk Zwaan? No, not necessarily, because a variety only becomes a commercial variety when sufficient reliable and high-quality seed of that variety can be produced. And even post-production all the seed is tested intensively. Time-consuming but logical. The simple fact is that our customers deserve the best seed of the best varieties.
Production trials
Our seed production trials locations in Chile, France and the Netherlands, amongst other places, are the starting points. In these growing areas the producibility of potential newcomers is tested in trials. Is the crop flowering all right, what is setting and seed development like? These are all factors which are daily checked by the Rijk Zwaan professionals on location. And the trials are expanding! Because of the success with the new generations of cauliflower, broccoli, kohlrabi and headed-cabbage varieties, the Brassica production area is growing.
Seed producers
When a variety does well at the triallocations, the ‘big boys’ take over. Only companies with the most up-to-date knowledge and mechanisation are selected by Rijk Zwaan for large-scale cabbage-seed production. We consider growers in Spain, France, Australia and the United States, because by spreading production over different continents and climate zones we are able to supply seed year-round, of summer as well as winter varieties.
To De Lier
The new harvest is usually transported to De Lier in the Netherlands by plane and here the seed undergoes all manner of processes before it is released onto the market: further cleaning, grading, calibrating, coating. The quality should, of course, never suffer after any of these processes. This is why Rijk Zwaan makes sure that, at crucial moments, samples of the seed are tested for germination vigour, seed purity, varietal authenticity/varietal purity and seed-borne diseases. With cabbage seed we are, of course, extra alert to the presence of xanthomonas a seed transmitted disease which causes black rot. Using a new seed test we are able to prove its presence inside seed.
Saving time
Thorough quality control takes time. Germination tests can often take weeks, but testing for varietal authenticity/varietal purity can sometimes take an entire growing season. DNA techniques are being used increasingly in order to gain a more rapid insight in the field of varietal authenticity/varietal purity. We take all tests extremely seriously. After all, we only market seed which has our total backing! That is why Rijk Zwaan sets higher norms, for average germination vigour for instance, than the European and Dutch standards. This means that our customers are assured of the best quality.
Production process
Cabbage-seed production is a wonderful process. The mother and father plants are planted side by side in rows, usually in poly-tunnels. By sowing the mother and father plants on different
dates the grower ensures that they bolt and flower at the same time. Bees subsequently take care of pollination which, hopefully, results in fertilisation. The father plants are then rotavated under and the seed on the mother plants ripens. The right moment for harvesting is determined accurately, based on the chlorophyll content of the seed. The crop is then cut and left to dry in the field for about 10 days. A threshing machine ‘beats’ the seed from the seed vessels and after the first quick cleaning the seed is ready to be transported to the Netherlands.
Follow all the steps
The entire quality-control process is described in detail and laid down in protocols in conformity with ISO 9001. And computerisation also offers possibilities for quality guarantees. The bar codes on the seed batches, for instance, and machines used, allow us to follow and record each logistical step and process.