Research and development
With a dedicated team of around 90 people and over 100 trial locations worldwide, HZPC Research focuses on innovation and collaboration. Improving our variety portfolio and growing techniques every single day.
State of the art competence level
Our industry has the potential to grow steady, strong, healthy and to remain future-proof. Our specialists always apply the latest know-how and technologies including the development of new tools.
The research groups Quality, Plant Pathology, Cell Biology and Molecular Biology are supported by colleagues from Biometrics, Quantitative Genetics and Bioinformatics.
Our breeders test the new varieties on trial fields all over Europe, North Africa, Middle East, East Asia and North America. Together, we keep our portfolio strong, healthy and ready for the future.
Breeding techniques
Techniques and methods are a great help to shorten variety development. Developments in the field of molecular breeding techniques are going fast. Every day we try to apply the latest techniques to develop varieties with an added value for each player in the value chain.
For example Molecular markers are a perfect tool to use in breeding. Instead of five years, it will now take us five weeks to estimate the value of a new variety for resistances and agronomic traits. This allows us to combine many traits in one variety in a very efficient way.
Unravelling genetics at diploid level and data science are two more examples of our frontiers in breeding.
Hybridisation
To maintain our leading position, HZPC closely follows all new breeding methods and techniques. That is why true potato seed (TPS) on diploid level is of the highest interest. Instead of outcrossing on tetraploid level where every botanical seed is different.
Hybrid TPS breeding means to create inbred lines on diploid level that are used as parent in diploid cross breeding to produce identical botanical seeds. The seeds from this hybrid constitute the variety. Hybrid seed could revolutionise potato distribution and cultivation. For the coming decennia we foresee that tubers from a young plant will still deliver the seed potatoes to produce a ware crop.