"We have an asparagus variety for every segment in the world"

Breeding asparagus for worldwide production areas, this is the job that Limgroup has. The company was established in 1994 when the breeding of asparagus was banned from local experimental gardens, since then their activities have expanded significantly. In Europe, this company is the market leader with exclusively 100% male asparagus varieties. In 2009, the first activities for breeding strawberries and mushrooms were started. “We are expecting the first commercial results from that in a short while,” says account manager John Schuurman. 

“We breed green and white asparagus for all important cultivation areas in the world. Here we distinguish asparagus for cold climate countries (the Netherlands, Germany, United Kingdom, United States, and China), the warm climate countries (Mediterranean countries), and the tropical areas and Peru,” says John. The starting point of asparagus breeding is that the company works for 100% with male hybrids. “We will never bring mixed flowering varieties on the market, to guarantee the lifetime and uniformity of the varieties.”

An important part of Limgroup is the department of Innovation and Implementation. Within this department, modern biotechnological methods are developed and improved for the purpose of R&D departments. Besides the extensive in-house laboratories, there are several collaboration institutes and participation in projects of universities and research institutes within and outside of Europe. “Our varieties remain in the field for ten years, so this should not go wrong. Only after lengthy trials with daily data collection do we decide if the variety is commercially successful. Breeding does take a long time and we will not take any chances. We are now developing varieties for 2028,” jokes John. 

“That is why we see our producers not as customers but as partners and we can support them with a disease and pest book. The varieties such as Bachlim, Fruhlim, Avalim, Vitalim, Xenolim, Terralim, and Starlim, show our portfolio of green and white varieties that are available for every market segment. To the question of how sacred the asparagus season is for the breeders, John answers: “A plant cannot be forced, you just cannot reverse a season. The trend is that producers would like to expand the season. That is why we are trying to divide the harvest into two parts with an early and a late variety. This extends the harvest season, without overcharging the plant.”

The worldwide asparagus production has known several changes in the past. “China is by far the largest producer in the world. The harvest in the United States is stable, but they have lost a large part of the production to South American countries such as Mexico and Peru, which have expanded a great deal. Within Europe, mainly the Mediterranean countries such as Spain and Italy show the largest growth. The acreage in Germany has grown to around 25,000 hectares and this self-sufficiency is at the cost of the Greek acreage. Furthermore, the United Kingdom is an important market for us, and the Netherlands remains, despite the limited acreage, an important local market,” says John.