Knowledge-Based Company Meets Iran’s Need for Flower, Plant Seeds
Tayybeh Basaki, who has a PhD in genetics and biometrics plant breeding, and is now an university professor and managing director of an Iranian knowledge-based company, said, “Iran was dependent on foreigners for the supply of F1 seeds for flowers and seasonal plants, and the seeds were needed by greenhouses and flower and plant producers. The supplies of these seeds used to be done through imports.”
“Given the flourishing of the flower and plant industry in Iran and the need of the industry's activists for F1 seeds and the role of domestic production of this product in saving the country from imports, with the help of the Science and Technology Park of Markazi Province and in the form of a knowledge-based company, we put the production of this product on the agenda and started the research plan for the production of F1 seeds in an area of 1,000 square meters with the aim of obtaining good and high-quality foundations.
“The Markazi province and the city of Mahalat account for the production of a large part of the country's flowers, and greenhouse owners usually have to import F1 seeds every season due to the lack of F1 seed parents, for which they inflict high costs,” she added.
“Currently, 1,000 meters of land has been dedicated to the production of petunia flowers, and we succeeded in making OP seeds one-fifth of the production price and saving the country free from its imports,” Basaki continued.
She further said that previously, farmers used to produce OP seeds experimentally, but now this company has acquired the know-how.
“According to the latest statistics, as much as 45 million euros used to exit the country annually for the import of seasonal plants seeds and flower germination. With the acquisition of this know-how and the development of seed production, spending of this amount of money will be prevented.”
“The F1 seed production process is time-consuming and specialized job, and it takes about 6 to 7 years to purify the plant and produce the pure line, while it normally takes 12 to 15 years for the producers to reach the production of the PO generation with the desired characteristics of F1 production, and we succeeded in reducing this period,” she went on to say.
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