INTEREST IN N.Z.

Press, 4 January 1980, Page 6

INTEREST IN N.Z.

New links between European and New Zealand plant breeders may develop from the six months visit to this country of Mr Loek Suijs, who comes from the Netherlands.

Mr Suijs is a plant breeder with a ■ plant breeding organisation in the Netherlands known as Geertsema-Groningen BV, which has close links with similar organisations in England, France and West Germany. .For the last three or four years his organisation has been working in Chile and because this activity has now come to an end his company has turned its attention to the possibilities of establishing a plant breeding programme in New Zealand. However, Mr Suijs says that they know very little of New Zealand and consequently he has come here with plant breeding material, which is being grown at Palmerston North and Gore as well as in Canterbury, to determine where it might be best to go into a breeding programme.

While not prepared to say at. this stage where conditions may be most appropriate,, he says that as one goes south conditions become more like those in England, Ger r many and France. He likens conditions .. in Canterbury’ to more like those in south-eastern France and northern Spain. Mr Suijs said that the participation of private enterprise in plant breeding, seemed'to be growing in New Zealand and his organisation was very happy with the extension of plant breeders’ or selectors’ rights to this country- ./ .... His organisation is interested in such crop plants as barley, oats, wheat, maize, rape seed and sunflowers. : - : Dr John Field-Dodgson, who is manager of the Ribbonwood- research centre' of : Crop Improvement Associates at Prebbleton, said that one of the first trials that had been put down last year at the new research centre at Prebbleton had been an oat

evaluation trial resulting from an agreement between a. German firm, Sumundo,' and R. G. Woodham and Company, of Ashburton, one of the partners in Crop Improvement’ Associates. Sumundo is one of the companies with which' Geertsema is associated. . Dr Field-Dodgson said that this would probably be the first occasion that an overseas plant breeder had come to this country for such a prolonged period. The •; interest of Geertsema in New Zealand may hasten the establishment of sub-stations elsewhere in New Zealand by Crop Improvement Associates. There are already some links between the • Dutch firm and New Zealand. The barley variety, Zephyr, which "has been widely grown; in New Zealand, originated with the firm, and Mr Suijs worked closely with Dr Feekes, a leading' cereal breeding authority’ in Western Europe; who is widely known in. plant breeding and agronomic circles for. the “Feekes' scale”' for determining tire stage of plant growth. -