CSR Updates

Genetics is in her blood, as she puts it. As Breeding Manager Terra, Beatrice explores new solutions and opportunities with her colleagues on a daily basis, resulting in better crops and more sustainable production.

Joke Klap works on the development of resilient and robust vegetable varieties. That’s how she’s contributing to plant health and food production. She explains how Rijk Zwaan is contributing to plant health by developing vegetable varieties with resistances.

As part of Rijk Zwaan’s vision of ‘Sharing a Healthy Future’, we’re keen to teach and inspire schoolchildren about vegetables. We do this in several ways, including going into primary schools and after-school clubs to hold talks about vegetables, and handing out seed kits. Jolanda van Kralingen, Specialist Communication, explains more about this aspect of the company’s contribution to society.

In Africa, there is rising demand for fresh and nutritious vegetables. Therefore, we are collaborating with Holland Greentech and (local) partners to further professionalise the fruit and vegetable value chain, and that starts with empowering farmers. This has resulted in an extensive training programme for farmers in many African countries, as this story from Benin illustrates.

Soil diversity is of tremendous importance for healthy food production. Did you know that there are vegetable varieties that use water and nutrients in the soil in a more efficient and sustainable manner, helping to preserve soil biodiversity and soil health? Rita Hautier shares how plants interact with microorganisms in the soil and how vegetable breeding explores opportunities for optimising those beneficial interactions.

Urbanisation and a rapidly growing middle class are two of the trends that are increasing the pressure on the world’s current food systems. High-quality vegetable seeds and tailor-made solutions such as indoor growing have a vital role to play in the long-term availability of fresh fruit and vegetables. Satish Kumar and Praneet Sharma from Rijk Zwaan India share details of how they engage with Indian growers to provide technical support and cultivation advice.

The future of farming and food production is a shared responsibility. As a vegetable breeding company, we not only bring new and innovative vegetable varieties to market, but also recognise our responsibility to contribute to sustainable food systems worldwide. That is why we continue to engage with local growers and other partners in the food chain to help feed the world and stimulate vegetable consumption. This story about HortIvoire in Ivory Coast is an example.

Breeders are constantly working to develop new and improved vegetable varieties, whether with resistances against pests and diseases, a higher yield, a longer shelf life or a more appealing colour, shape or size. In order to breed these traits into the varieties, they use genetic material from gene banks. Biodiversity – and in particular genetic material – forms the basis for plant breeding. Access to those genetic resources for breeding purposes is governed in Access & Benefit sharing conventions. Karin Laugs explains more.

This is a story about two Tanzanian women that share our Rijk Zwaan mission: to deliver appealing, high-quality vegetables to the market. One of them, Bertha Bagenyi, is Selector African Hot Pepper (habaneros) at Rijk Zwaan Afrisem. The other, mrs. Rukia Ibrahim, is a smallholder farmer from Uchira Village. This is a story about passion, pioneering and perseverance.

Rijk Zwaan Australia is a proud supporter of Health Futures Australia (HFA), a local not-for-profit organisation and health promotion charity. Rijk Zwaan shares HFA’s belief that fresh, nutritious food is critical in building a happy and healthy human and local economy.