Rootstock supplier Fairplant and tissue culture specialist ViVi, part of Visser Horti Systems, work together as strategic partners to implement a new innovation for the blueberry tissue culture market. Three 40ft containers with a fully functioning micropropagation laboratory inside will be the plug-and-play solution of the future.
This expansion fits well with the ambitions of the market leader of fruit tree rootstocks. “We are constantly focusing on innovation to secure and stabilize the business for the future,” says Rik Klein. A Tissue Culture environment has long been on Fairplant's wishlist. “Four years ago the idea arose to grow healthy quality plants with less soil-bound cultivation but with a lot of flexibility. We believe this combination is very valuable looking to the future of plant propagation,” Klein tells. The lab should be fully operational by October.
The ViVi lab containers are a turnkey solution for a fully operational micropropagation laboratory. The container concept has all the benefits of a regular tissue culture laboratory but now combined in three 40ft shipping containers. The containers are set as plug and play system, the only requirements are a flat surface to place the containers, electric and drainage connections. The lab can be up and running in a matter of weeks and will be delivered completely turnkey.
ViVi has developed this new concept to offer a low threshold entry to tissue culture production for companies new to this segment. The main benefit of the container lab is that it is very cost-efficient in comparison with regular micropropagation labs, while still maintaining the high-quality standard that is required for TC production.
The containers are equipped with all areas required to run a complete tissue culture laboratory. It contains areas for cutting plants, preparing media, and controlled multi-layer growing of the plantlets in the ViTrays. Fairplant will be able to produce over one million blueberry micro propagated plants per year. Besides blueberries, Fairplant will also utilize their new lab for the production of raspberries, fruit trees, and various other small fruit plants.
ViVi will train the Fairplant staff in-house about how to operate their new TC lab. This involves a 3 months crash course in the ViVi laboratory in ‘s Gravendeel. The training will get the Fairplant staff familiar with micropropagation and gets them up to speed with all the latest innovations in the world of tissue culture production.
The 40ft container lab concept is beneficial for growers with little experience in micropropagation and for companies who want a low threshold entry to tissue culture production.
Fairplant