RZ-100-wt4-E-flipbook-240702 - Flipbook - Page 16
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Plant breeding in the Netherlands
Because in the 1920s not a great deal is yet known about the development of
cultivated crops it is not surprising that a more scientific approach to plant
breeding in the business sector took longer than expected. Scientific breeding
started with the rediscovery of Mendel’s laws around 1900, by Hugo de Vries,
South Holland cucumber growers
among others. At the intercession of Hugo de Vries, the first professor of plant
on excursion in Enkhuizen, including:
breeding was appointed. However, it took many years for these insights to flow
1 Rijkent Zwaan
through to the business community.
2 Hendrik Zwaan
3 Rijk Zwaan.
Rijk Zwaan belongs to the exclusive club that had started focusing on line and
family selection and later even cross-breeding as far back as the 1920s.
The 1992 memorial book of the Dutch Horticultural Seed Industry Association
(NTZ) lists dozens of pioneers of horticultural breeding in the Netherlands.
Cucumbers in the
1927-1928 catalogue.
They include Rijkent Zwaan (father of Rijk Zwaan), Andries Zwaan (brother of Rijk)
and Rijk Zwaan. This shows that the Zwaan family has played a crucial role in
the breeding of horticultural crops in Holland. In these early years of breeding,
however, the biggest inhibiting factor for professional breeders is the fact that
their work is not protected. Although official catalogues of varieties appeared in
the agriculture sector as far back as 1924, this would not happen in the horticulture sector until 1940. The lack of sufficient protection against the ‘stealing’
of breeding work is a major reason for the late adoption of much of this work.
However, the Zwaan family was never deterred by this. Based on the trust shown
by their customers, they tirelessly continued to practice ‘their’ craft.
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Rijk Zwaan | Moving forward together
