Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 11.11
Claude Hope, one
of the founders of PanAmeri-
can Seed Company, whose
flower breeding resulted
in the first commercial F1
hybrid Impatiens walleriana
and Petunia xhybrida.
(Uchneat
2006
)
products could move. Thus, three factors emerged for sustainable production: qual-
ity, production and transportation costs (Nelson
2003
). Air transport developed post-
World War II and dramatically affected shipping. A second major change was the
creation of F
1
hybrid seed products, notably with
Impatiens walleriana
and
Petunia
x hybrida
by the PanAmerican Seed Company (bred by Claude Hope) in the 1940s
(Fig.
11.11
; Uchneat
2006
). These products displayed hybrid vigour or heterosis that
outperformed the standard open-pollinated types. Currently a high proportion of
seed-produced flower crops are hybrids. Another innovation was the Plug Revolu-
tion of the 1980s, which transformed the heavy, cumbersome clay or wooden con-
tainers into lightweight plastics (Figs.
11.12
and
11.13
) (Armitage and Kaczperski
1994
). Plug trays, all made the same size of 10″ × 20″ (25.4 × 30.5 cm) were created
to grow and germinate seedlings or root cuttings and held from 32 to 512 small
plants. Finishing containers (explain what these are for the reader) are moved from
bulb, azalea and standard pots to 4- and 6-packs that fit into 10 × 20 trays in specific
sets, each with their own trade code. This enabled automation to come to greenhouse
production with the advent of automatic plug and container filling machines, seed-
ers (drum, needle), transplanters, and benching systems as well as computerization
for climate control (Nelson
2003
). With the use of in-floor heating, soil temperatures
of adjacent bays or areas could be set at differing values, allowing for the first-ever
production of cool and warm season crops in one greenhouse (Fig.
11.14
).
Current commercial production and marketing of floricultural crops follows a
complicated, ever-changing horticultural distribution supply chain that has been
created through globalization and highly specialized growing, brokerage and mar-
keting firms (Drew et al.
2010
). The chain begins with the collection of wild spe-
cies with ornamental potential, their subsequent breeding and selection to create
seed or vegetative products. Producers then sell on the propagules to distributors
who subsequently sell directly or via brokers to grower types (plug producers, pre-
finishers, finishers). These products are then sold to the customers either through
independent or big box store retailers, garden centres, nurseries and landscape con-
tractors (Fig.
11.15
; Drew et al.
2010
). Another level of complexity arises when
