Plant breeding

Breeding by means of seed is indispensable for obtaining new varieties. This involves the crossing of plants with the intention of obtaining new and improved varieties. This activity has been – and still is – of the utmost importance in the flower bulb sector. The current tulip range is the result of more than four centuries of crossing efforts. If a modern tulip variety is propagated from seed, it will produce a multicoloured mixture of descendants, some of which have undesirable qualities!
Due to the advances made in crossing techniques, it is increasingly possible to create crosses between species or varieties that would not have been possible in the past. This means that highly desirable qualities, e.g. in colour or habit characteristics, can now be achieved by means of crossing. Even more important is the fact that we will hopefully have even more luck in the future in increasing the plants’ resistance to diseases of flower bulbs. This is extremely important to reduce the use of crop protection agents!

Download here the PDF file "The cultivation of bulbous plants as pot plants"

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Plant breeding