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11th edition Summer School Green Genetics #SSGG19
The fully booked 11th edition of the Summer School Green Genetics took place from 26 till 30 August. Thirty-three students were introduced to the world of green genetics by attending lectures and excursions given by Wageningen University & Research experts and staff from several Dutch plant breeding companies.
11th edition programme
The participants attended lectures given by Wageningen University & Research experts, participated a Wageningen Campus research facilities tour, attended a company market and visited Dutch plant breeding companies. This year De Ruiter Seeds, Schooneveld Breeding, Dekker Chrysanten (SeedValley), Dummen Orange and NAKtuinbouw were visited. The participants learned and experienced many fascinating aspects of the Dutch plant breeding and propagation industry during the visits and lectures.
This year's edition was scored with an overall score of 4.7 on a scale from 1 to 5. Especially the company visit to Schoneveld made a huge impression on the students, as all their facilities where brand new and fully focused on sustainability.
The Summer School Green Genetics is the ideal way to introduce the fascinating world of plant breeding to students interested in this exciting and dynamic field. The mix of lectures and company visits gives them an unique opportunity to get acquainted with the wonderful world of breeding. I am glad to see that based on their Summer School experience every year more and more students decide to follow further education or directly start a career in the Dutch plant breeding sector. I would say, let’s continue for another 10 years!
Why a Summer School Green Genetics?
The sector “Flowers & Food” has been designated as one of the key sectors for innovation in the Dutch economy. It covers horticulture, food production and plant breeding (green genetics). Plant breeding focuses on the production of new varieties in crop plants. New varieties with improved traits like taste, health promoting ingredients, yield, resistance to diseases, resistance to stress conditions, etc. These varieties are the basis for sustainable production of healthy food, food ingredients and non-food products worldwide. More and more, innovative techniques are included in breeding programs: molecular breeding, genomics, DNA sequencing, gene technology. The level of plant science research in The Netherlands is excellent when measured along international standards. In order to keep this level it is very important to do have enough students studying plant science and moreover, to let them start a career in the green genetics!