Seminis, well-known in Europe for its greenhouse products, is now focusing its resources to support the expanding North American greenhouse market.

Greenhouse cultivation - protected culture - is a growing industry in North America and around the world. Growers are capitalizing on the advantages of raising crops indoors where they have a controlled environment, consistent quality and less pressure from insects and disease.

To underscore the importance of the greenhouse industry, the Monsanto board of directors and the Monsanto executive leadership team toured the 34-hectare (85 ac.) greenhouse facilities at Houweling’s Nurseries in Oxnard, California (photo right). Monsanto is the parent company of Seminis and is committed to keeping Seminis at the forefront of the vegetable seed industry.

Founded in 1974, Houweling’s Nurseries is one of only two North American greenhouse operations supplying tomatoes year-round and their state of the art operations were ideal for demonstrating the technology used in protected culture growing.  

 “We’re very pleased to have the Monsanto Company executives visit our greenhouses to see first-hand the opportunities to support the greenhouse industry,” said Casey Houweling, president of Houweling’s Oxnard.

Seminis president Kerry Preete echoes the importance of a commitment to the industry, “We’ve decided to make investments in our research and development to enhance and upgrade our capabilities to support this critical area of our business.”

Seminis plans to increase greenhouse acreage at its research facility in the Culiacan Valley of Mexico to include over a hectare of plastic and shade houses. Using the new greenhouses, Seminis will have the capability to check varieties from other protected culture breeding programs worldwide for their adaptability in the NAFTA region. A portion of the new greenhouse acreage will be used as a demonstration area to showcase new varieties.

Aiming to produce the best products for the North American market, Seminis has brought members of its Netherlands-based breeding and product development teams to North America to gain a better understanding of grower needs. Sweet pepper breeder Jurko Leij (photo right), traveled to evaluate trials and commercial productions of Red Glory (photo below) and Striker peppers in British Columbia and Ontario, Canada. Visiting the same Canadian regions, product developer Arjan Bimmel came to evaluate tomato trials featuring Bizarr and experimental PS 7529. Information gathered on these trips will be applied to future breeding lines.

“We’re still young in the North American greenhouse market, but we have gained market share in tomato and sweet pepper in the last five years with the introduction of new varieties that provide results for the growers,” said Joep van de Burgt, manager of Seminis’ Protected Culture sales team for the NAFTA region.

Seminis is committed to supporting the greenhouse industry and will continue to work with key growers like Houweling’s Nurseries to address the issues faced in protected culture agriculture.

Seminis is the world’s leading developer, producer and marketer of vegetable seeds. Its products are designed to reduce the need for agricultural chemicals, increase crop yield, reduce spoilage, offer longer shelf life, and create better tasting foods and foods with higher nutritional content. Seminis has established a worldwide presence and global distribution network that spans 150 countries and territories.