Infrastructure & Facilities

Research & Development

Rijk Zwaan pays a lot of attention to research. This leads to new techniques, which enable our breeders to develop new varieties faster and more efficiently. This also encompasses further improvement of the seed quality of these varieties and developing resistance tests for plant diseases.

Phytopathology:

An important attention area is research into plant diseases. This department supports the breeders by carrying out resistance tests and developing new test protocols. Increasing use is made of molecular detection techniques.

Seed technology:

We pay a lot of attention to the quality of our seed. Important fields of activity in this respect are genetics, production and post-harvest treatments like cleaning and seed treatment techniques.

Cell biology:

Using modern techniques at cell level, it is possible to accelerate the breeding process. One important application of cell biology is the creation of double haploids, which enables our breeders to develop pure parent lines for a new variety faster.

Molecular biology:

We are getting an ever better insight into the molecular composition of plants. With marker technology, important genetic differences between plants are, as it were, made visible. This marker information is very valuable to the breeders.

Biochemistry:

One of our research groups specialises in determining phytochemicals in plants, i.e. flavours, vitamins and minerals, but also health-enhancing ones.

Collaboration:

Together with a number of other seed companies, Rijk Zwaan participates in Keygene N.V., a research company where, collectively, work is carried out in the area of modern biotechnology. We also collaborate frequently with universities and research institutes.

Production Facility

Seed production:

Growing high-quality and reliable seed is a complex process. The parents of a new variety must be crossed at their purest and that requires great care while they are growing. The choice of location plays a big part when growing seed.

Accurate planning:

It is important for seed production that enough seed is available of all varieties, at the right time and of good quality, so that we can meet the wishes of our customers. That is why we make accurate plans for each crop every year, based on our sales expectations.

Care:

Great care is called for when growing seed. Pests and diseases can present a threat to the crop, but it is just as important that the crop should not be pollinated with undesirable pollen. Our experienced production specialists are, therefore, closely involved in a crop’s progress and we make increasing use of laboratory techniques.

The right locations:

Rijk Zwaan makes use of production locations all over the world. The seed for each crop is produced in areas where conditions are the most suitable for not just growing but also the ripening process of the seed. Denmark, for instance, is the perfect geographic location for the production of spinach seed.

Good timing:

In order to have good-quality seed it is important that the seed is harvested at the right time and with great care. Depending on the crop, it is harvested manually, in stages, or mechanically in one go. Once the seed has been harvested each batch, wherever in the world it was harvested, goes to the Seed Technological Centre in De Lier, the Netherlands.

Our Infrastructure

Our Infrastructue imge