Contribution of fruit research in the developments in Dutch fresh fruit chain.

摘要

Dutch fruit growers change their market behaviour due to the poor financial results of the fruit industry in the last decade, the changing trade structures, and the more consumer-driven fruit chains. In these circumstances, the fruit industry itself and the applied fruit research are also changing. Applied Plant Research (PPO-Fruit) is involved in different projects related to consumer-driven fruit chain development and their side effects on fruit growers and firms. This paper describes two projects about new Dutch fruit chains in which PPO-Fruit is involved and their impact on fruit growers and research. The projects are: (1) a special variety chain, based on the Dutch apple variety Santana, which is scab resistant; and (2) a regional crop chain "Betuwe framboos" (Betuwe raspberry). It is clear that being a part of a fruit chain means another way of working for the fruit growers and the other partners as well. They have to work according to established cultivation, storage, and packaging procedures. This means a decline in independence for the growers. PPO-Fruit works as a facilitator, a knowledge centre and executes experiments to solve new problems.