Equiflor is excited to introduce our first breeder: Dümmen Orange.
HISTORY
Dümmen Orange is a global breeder based in the Netherlands, with partners and associates worldwide. With over a century of breeding expertise, they blend traditional techniques with emerging technologies to create high quality roses that Rio is proud to distribute.
BREEDING
Traditionally, Dümmen Orange looks for the right parent combinations and, once per year, makes rose crossings with those combinations. A year after that, the first seeds of those crossings are germinating and the selection process – which takes about 3-4 years – can start. The first selection work is mainly done in the Netherlands, Ecuador, Colombia, Kenya, and Ethiopia. In total, they aim for 120,000 seedlings every year – of these, about 20 varieties will make it to the commercial market after a four-year period of selecting and trialing.
Science is now becoming a greater and greater part of their breeding program: Through DNA identification in an earlier stage of the selection process, they are developing varieties resistant to powdery mildew, agrobacterium, and other diseases. By doing this, they are able to scale up their selections and select in a more efficient way. Not only is this an upgrade in efficiency, it also gives good results on key characteristics one wants to see in rose varieties. Dümmen Orange hopes to have the first commercial results of this new way of breeding around 2020.
Dümmen Orange works with more than 30 Product Market Combinations, or PMCs, in their rose breeding program. This helps them divide the world into different segments, so they can focus on the specific needs and opportunities of each segment, market, and geographical area, and therefore breed varieties with characteristics that are important for that specific market.
General production selection criteria
- Vase life
- Disease resistance
- Stem length
- Preference for fewer thorns
- Need to travel well
Inspiration when creating new varieties:
- Consumers
- Growers
- Outside Trends
When it comes to cut flowers, and roses specifically, Dümmen Orange has a few selected varieties that they especially like to feature:
We would like to hear your opinion on the selected varieties provided by Dümmen Orange. Please send us an email to marketing@equiflor.com and share your feedback on your favorite rose!
With their deep-rooted commitment to their people, their values, and their passion for excellence, Dümmen Orange likes to say that they are “uniting the world through the language of flowers!”
For more information, visit their website at DummenOrange.com, or find them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.