Hydroponic forcing is a relatively new method being applied to tulips to produce cut flowers. In itself, however, the forcing of flower bulbs over water is nothing new. Even in the middle of the 18th century, people were forcing bulbs in water-filled glass vases in their own homes. The first attempts to use hydroponic methods to force tulips commercially occurred in the 1960s. These first attempts were then revived in the early 1990s. Once a number of technical production problems were solved in the late 1990s, this method really started taking hold. In general, forcing in water-filled trays is similar to forcing in trays filled with soil. By now, this eco-friendly hydroponic process has become one of the most important methods used for producing cut tulips. In the Netherlands, the hydroponic method is being applied to more than 60% of the tulips being forced. This development is largely due to the advantages provided by this method. In many situations, this combination of advantages means that hydroponic forcing provides financial benefits.

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The younger generation of consumers wants greater convenience and less waiting to see results. This also applies to their home decorating and gardening efforts. Flower bulbs purchased as dry bulbs no longer measure up. Instead of instant gratification, these bulbs represent having to wait for long-term results. Although serious gardeners will continue to get down in the dirt, these “instant gardeners” with their many hobbies and busy lives would rather not wait. Consumers increasingly determine the requirements that products have to satisfy. And our economic situation gives them plenty of choice in the form of many different products sold in great quantities. But growers and exporters also have to make choices. Which strategy will they choose: a focus on the product, the market or their formula? Whichever they decide on, it will be important to add something unique to their product to give it more value. It’s also important for growers and exporters to 1) consider which products consumers see as appealing, beautiful and convenient and 2) be open to trying something new. With this in mind, as well as today’s large-scaled production of flower bulbs in pots, the International Flower Bulb Centre started promoting a “box of instant bulbs” in 2002 to satisfy gardeners who want instant results. No more planting in the autumn (or spring) and then waiting for the bulbs to fulfil their promise much later. Instead, instant gratification of the wish to beautify patios, balconies and gardens. It is up to retailers to convince consumers that they can plant these pre-forced bulbs in their gardens or place them in pots and containers for instant flowering results. The market for these bulbs in pots has become a crucial market for the growers and exporters of flower bulbs. Ten years ago, 20 million pots were being sold as opposed to 80 million now. With an average of three bulbs per pot, this is easily more than 200 million bulbs being sold in pots. Although spring-flowering bulbs are now the most commonly sold bulbs in pots, several summer-flowering bulbs can be grown as pot plants with very good results.

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New varieties sometimes turn up spontaneously during bulb production. The perfect example of this was the discovery of ‘Abba’, a red double early tulip that was found growing in a yellow field of ‘Monte Carlo’ tulips. In technical jargon, this new variety is known as a mutation, sport or a shift in genetic makeup. It might consist of a sudden change in colour. But a mutation can also involve other characteristics such as vigour or disease resistance – aspects that will often go unnoticed because they are difficult or impossible to observe, particularly since they often occur in only a single bulb. Many cultivars now being produced were developed from a mutation. Oddly enough, mutation occurs more often among tulips and dahlias than among hyacinths and daffodils.

Crossing varieties

Sports only occur by chance, so they cannot be depended upon to produce new varieties. To develop new varieties, plant breeders have to resort to crossing varieties of the same species. This is common practice, particularly for lilies, daffodils, dahlias and tulips. To learn about this, we will use tulips as an example. Obviously, the first product produced in this process will be seed.

The tulip as an example

The objective of crossing is to obtain varieties that grow better (i.e., lead to higher yields of bulbs); display a different colour, shape or stem length; and possess better characteristics that allow the bulbs to be forced early and produce flowers of good quality. Keeping quality in the vase is another important characteristic required of bulb flowers. Finally, plant breeders are devoted to developing varieties with high resistance to diseases; this is also important in regard to environmental protection because production will then depend less on the use of crop protection agents.

- Breeding plan

Plant breeders have a preconceived breeding plan that establishes the specific positive characteristics of the paternal and maternal plants to be combined in their descendants. Such a plan will have a good chance of success only if the plant breeder has a thorough knowledge of the parental material. Even then, the process can be hindered by other factors over which the breeder has no control. Breeders must also be well acquainted with the principles of genetics.

- The process

The paternal and maternal bulbs are planted in pots. Pollen is collected from the paternal plants. Once the stigma of the maternal plant is mature, this pollen is transferred to its stigma. Carrying out this process in greenhouses makes it possible to prevent undesired cross-pollination and to maintain the ideal breeding temperature of 17 to 20?. To obtain optimum results, the same procedure is repeated three days later. Obviously, the number of combinations is practically infinite, but they will have to be limited. After all, each seed pod (a three-valved capsule) contains three hundred seeds, all of which will produce bulbs under the right conditions. If the crossing process has been successful, the stigma will start to swell. By mid-June, the seed pod starts to turn colour and mature. It is advisable to leave the stem and its seed pod attached to the maternal bulb as long as possible. The seeds are then sown from mid-October through November. Exposing the seeds to low temperatures results in the highest rate of germination. Plantlets will become available in early spring.

- A long process

At first, the plantlets and bulblets are cultivated in trays or pots. This keeps bulblets from being lost. Once they are three years old, they can be planted in the field. It takes around five years before a seed has developed into a bulb that can produce a flower. So this is how long it takes before the flower colour and other external characteristics can be established. Other characteristics such as flower quality and disease resistance are still unknown at this point; these have yet to be tested. What follows next is a process known as “the art of elimination”. Only a few plants, estimated at around 2% of the total, will make it to the finish line and be introduced to the market. By using traditional propagation techniques, it will actually take twenty years to reach this stage – and time is money. These days, this period can be substantially reduced by using what are known as rapid propagation methods in which bulbs of qualified varieties can be propagated very quickly.

The Southern Hemisphere method

FLOWER BULB PRODUCTION IN THE NETHERLANDS

In the past 25 years a lot of things have changed. Small growers became major players in the market. The current total (2006) acreage of flower bulbs is 22.987 hectare (60.000 acres). In 1980 the acreage was 14.265 hectares (35.000 acres).

The current top 5:

1. Tulips
2. Lilies
3. Narcissi
4. Hyacinths
5. Gladioli

Many special bulbs together form the large acreage of ‘others’. The past 25 years the acreage has increased with 8730 hectares (21.825 acres). When we look at the top 5 of products we see that the tulip remains very important in total acreage in the Netherlands. The cultivation of gladioli has decreased and moved to other countries. Lily cultivation increased rapidly the past 15 years. It now is the second largest grown bulb in the Netherlands. Since 1980 the number of growing companies have decreased rapidly. The acreage per company therefore has grown even faster.

Dutch flower bulb production in comparison to the world-wide production of bulbs

The Netherlands currently accounts for 65% of the total production area for flower bulbs in the world, and therefore remains the leader in this sector. As far as tulip and lily bulb production is concerned, France, Japan, US, Chile, Australia and New Zealand make a significant contribution. France, Chile and New Zealand export a large volume of their produced bulbs to the Netherlands, the US, Japan and Canada where the tulip bulbs are used for flower cultivation in the months from October to December, and the lily bulbs (Oriental) are used for the planting period from October to January.

Yields and production costs in these countries, with the exceptions of France and the USA, are roughly at the same level as in the Netherlands. In France and Australia the tulip yield is lower, and with lilies in France the production costs are higher. As regards the climate, for countries in the Southern Hemisphere there is a slight preference for New Zealand, where the climate is somewhat cooler and more stable. As far as change in production area in the Netherlands, France, Chile, Australia and New Zealand is concerned, the area under tulip production in the Netherlands and France is stable, with a slight increase in New Zealand, Chile and Australia. In the case of lily production a stabilisation in the Netherlands and France is expected. Production in the Southern Hemisphere is also expected to be stable. Bulb production from a world-wide perspective, and in particular the cultivation of tulips and lilies as these are the most important.

The largest production area of tulip bulbs is in the Netherlands and accounts for 86% of the area world-wide. Tulip bulbs are also produced in 14 other countries, headed by Japan, France and USA. Most of these countries use these bulbs for their own flower production and/or for the dry sales (sales of bulbs through retailers to consumers for garden use). Exceptions to this are the Netherlands, France, New Zealand, Australia, Chile and South Africa. For example, the Netherlands currently produces 4.3 billion tulip bulbs, 2.5 billion (58%) of which are used as the starting material for cut flowers both in the Netherlands and abroad. The remainder are destined for the dry sales. Of the bulbs used for cut flowers, the Netherlands itself uses 60% (1.5 billion). The remainder are exported to countries within the EU (0.57 billion) and outside the EU (0.41 billion). Unfortunately no data is available for sales within the EU. Before we step further into the global market of tulip and lily production herewith an impression about the value of the bulb production in relation to the Dutch horticulture ornamental production.

In 2006 the bulb production is 50% of the acreage of ornamental produce in the open air. Many bulbs stay in the Netherlands and are part of the flower and pot plant production under glass. The export value of Dutch bulbs has doubled the past 25 years, while the total export value of ornamental produce is five times bigger. Within the export value of cut flowers and pot plants are many bulb flower and potted bulbs as many of them are grown into a flower or pot plant before they leave the country.

In the past 25 years we see many changes in the top 10. New comers like Japan and China and old delegates like Germany and France that remain big bulb consumption markets. The new ways of transport systems have enlarged the exporting market rapidly the past 25 years.

Sales of tulips en lilies as bulbs and the percentage of sales for bulb flowers

Tulip bulbs produced in France are partly sold on the domestic market and partly exported for very early planting (November-December) in the Netherlands. This is because, depending on geographic location, the bulbs are three to five weeks earlier in reaching Stage G. Bulb cultivation for this sector in France is largely under Dutch supervision, and production here is mostly the 9? forcing range and Scheepers sports (group of single late tulips which are used by flower growers in the south of France to produce the so called "French Tulips"). The planting material comes from the Netherlands, yields are 10-20% lower and production costs are much the same as in the Netherlands.

The bulbs produced in the Southern Hemisphere are also under Dutch supervision and reach consumers in the US, the Netherlands, Japan and Canada through Dutch export companies. This production in the Southern Hemisphere (New Zealand, Australia, Chile) has increased in importance over the past few years, and production is mostly of the general 9? forcing range. The planting material was and continues to be obtained by importing early forced tulips from the Netherlands. Production costs are comparable to those of the Netherlands. Yields are also comparable to those in the Netherlands, except Australia where the yield, because of the warmer climate in the growing area is 10% less.

Similarly with lilies, the largest production area of lily bulbs is in the Netherlands, accounting for 72% of the total area world-wide. Nine other countries, headed by France, Chile, China, Japan, the US and New Zealand, produce lilies for their bulbs. Half of the ten bulb-producing countries use the bulbs for their own cut flower production, and only a small part is used for dry sales. Countries such as the Netherlands, France, Chile, New Zealand and Australia use the bulbs to supply both their domestic and export markets. The Netherlands currently produces 1.72 billion lily bulbs, of which 1.64 billion (96%) are used as starting material for cut flower cultivation within the Netherlands and abroad. The Netherlands itself uses 0.42 billion (24%) of this volume for its own cut flower production. The remainder is exported to countries within the EU (0.51 billion) and outside the EU (0.79 billion).

In France much of the lily bulb production is in Dutch hands and the bulbs (Oriental hybrids) are used in the Netherlands for the planting period from the end of May to the end of September. The warmer climate gives these bulbs better stem length and appreciably more flower buds per stem. Because of the warmer climate during the maturity period of the bulbs they are more suitable for storage until the required planting period than bulbs from the Netherlands. The French Longiflorum hybrids can be planted from September onwards provided they have been lifted early. The other, not early lifted bulbs, can be planted from mid-December onwards. The Longiflorums are of good quality and can be stored longer than the Dutch bulbs. Yields in France are the same or better and the cost price is slightly higher than in the Netherlands, caused by the extra costs of transport.

A stabilisation in the area under lily cultivation is expected in the Netherlands and France, however Asiatic lilies are expected to decline in favour of LA hybrids. The Southern Hemisphere production is expected to be stable. Relatively speaking there is little export of bulb flowers in the cut flower markets world-wide. In most markets bulb flowers are produced locally. Exceptions to this are the Netherlands, Costa Rica and Korea. Many types of bulb flowers, particularly tulips and lilies, are exported from the Netherlands around the world, the major markets being Germany, the UK and France, and outside the EU the USA. Costa Rica exports lilies to the value of 6.7 million euro to the US. In addition, countries such as Brasil (1 million euro) and Ecuador (0.9 million euro) export lilies to this market. We can expect the export of lily flowers from Chile to increase significantly once a proposed free trade agreement has been signed with the USA. Besides its own production of 286 million lily flower stems, Japan still imports 4.2 million stems from Korea, 1.1 million stems from the Netherlands and 0.7 million stems from New Zealand.

Cut flower market world-wide

International trade in cut flowers is concentrated in three major consumer markets, namely the United States, the EU and Japan. The EU is the largest market, with Japan and the US occupying second and third place. Although the US is the third largest producer of cut flowers in the world, with a wholesale value of 933 million euro, it imports the major part (537 million euro or 56%) of its need for cut flowers. The US also exports cut flowers worth 38 million euro, mostly to Canada. This table lists the countries and their share of cut flower imports to the US. These are predominantly countries with a favourable growing climate and low labour costs. An exception to this is the Netherlands, which is strong in the speciality market. By far the most important consumer market for cut flowers is the EU, currently comprising 25 countries but, in this presentation for certain reasons, we keep it to the formerly 15 countries. Local cut flower production in these countries is worth 6,320 million euro at wholesale prices. The EU also imports cut flowers valued at 635 million euro (10%), the principal importing countries being the Netherlands, the UK and Germany, and exports cut flowers worth 458 million euro, its major markets being the US, Switzerland and Russia.

This table shows clearly the dominant role of Africa, and in particular Kenya, in the export of cut flowers to the EU. Here too, these are countries with a favourable growing climate and low wages, with the exception of Israel which, like the Netherlands, is strong in specialities. The intra-European exchange of cut flowers, worth 2,263 million euro, is between the following countries in particular:

• The Netherlands (2,061 million euro), with the major importing countries being Germany, the UK, France and Italy
• Spain (67 million euro), with the UK and the Netherlands
• Italy (38 million euro), with Germany, the Netherlands and France
• Belgium (34 million euro), with France, the Netherlands and the UK

With a percentage of 91%, the Netherlands clearly has a dominant role in the internal European trade in cut flowers. Japanese imports of cut flowers account for 6% of the total use and are worth some 223 million euro. Domestic cut flower production is worth 3,577 million euro. Japan exports only 0.5 million euro of cut flowers.

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