This month, LivRio is pleased to bring you some of the latest news from De Ruiter Ecuador.

De Ruiter, Holland’s leading rose breeder, is always working to add value to the market. That’s why De Ruiter Innovations has set up partnerships with the main flower-producing countries in the world.

In Ecuador, De Ruiter has been testing rose varieties in partnership with Anniroses in Tabacundo for more than two years. This year, in order to better serve the market, they completed the construction of new offices at the Tabacundo location.

The Anniroses farm is approximately one to three hectares, and is used for three main purposes: 40 percent of the farmland is used to test new varieties, 45 percent is for genetic banks and flower growing, and the remaining 15 percent is used to show how the plants and stems are reproduced in this high-altitude location. De Ruiter Ecuador sends samples to their Ecuador clients, and also exports flowers around the world to the US, Europe, Russia, China, and other countries.

The De Ruiter Ecuador team includes ten people in the technical areas, administration, accounting, and commercial, with another ten in cultivation and post-harvest areas. Currently, De Ruiter Ecuador grows 30 varieties in partnership with Anniroses, the most popular being Frutteto, Maggi, Orange Crush, Esperance, Pink X-pression, Piacere, Super Sun, Cupido, and Pomarosa.

De Ruiter Ecuador evaluated approximately 2,500 varieties in 2018.  For 2019, their goal is to evaluate 3,000 varieties, and they hope to obtain anywhere from three to ten varieties out of this group. It’s a precise, painstaking task, but well worth it in the end, with the beautiful rose varieties that emerge as a result.