Tech of the year: How Intrinsa is breeding healthier plants

Added on 05 September 2022

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Tech of the year: How Intrinsa is breeding healthier plants

When greenhouse growers think of technology, they might have visions of some piece of shiny new equipment, or an automated system of moving plants or managing the greenhouse environment. However, technology also applies to the development of new plants, which can lead to efficiency and cost savings.

Such is the case with Intrinsa Plant Power, which was conceived by the research and development team at Dümmen Orange back in 2015, and was officially introduced in the company's Ditto garden mums series in 2020.

As with any innovation, greenhouse technology and variety development can both take years. But as Intrinsa Plant Power illustrates, when the two come hand in hand, the results can exceed expectations.

How it Works

Intrinsa uses advanced speed-to-market molecular breeding technologies such as AI phenotyping, predictive breeding, and high-end resolution greenhouse validation through prolonged bioassays to identify natural traits within the genetic catalog of crops that demonstrate disease or virus resistance.

By deciphering and analyzing the genetic code of plants, Dümmen Orange can learn about the precise biological causes for existing or missing resistances. In the next step, Intrinsa carefully upgrades the DNA, systematically improving and extending crucial traits of a plant. In doing so, deficiencies are corrected from within, making use of the plant's intrinsic capabilities. The result: plants that are indifferent to various kinds of stress.

Crops and Diseases Targeted

Intrinsa was introduced into the Ditto Garden Mum family through resistance to chrysanthemum white rust (CWR) in 2020. Since then, more than 80% of the Garden Mum program from Dümmen Orange is now CWR resistant, allowing for fewer chemical applications in production and long-term protection against the disease.