Technologies for forcing flower bulbs

In the past three decades, there have been three significant changes in the systems used by commercial flower bulb forcers. First, innovations in plant breeding and selection techniques have lead to improved cultivars of many species. Second, there have been changes in the propagation (including tissue culture) and growing of most flower bulbs. Research in these areas has been conducted at laboratories not only in The Netherlands, e.g., Lisse and Wageningen, but also in other major bulb producing countries, e.g., the United States. Efforts in both areas continue and they are essential for the production of high quality bulbs for forcing. Third, there have been vast improvements in the organization of the research information used by commercial bulb forcers. At present, the forcing process is divided into five phases: (1) Production, (2) Programming, (3) Greenhouse, (4) Marketing, and (5) Consumer. The latter phase has been recently introduced, because markets must be consumer oriented and driven. In order for the forcing industry to increase their markets: consumers must be satisfied with the forced products. Within each forcing phase, research is needed to either improve or expand the technology of established forcing systems. Examples include (1) physiological maturity indexes for harvesting bulbs, (2) nondestructive analytical equipment to determine bulb quality, (3) optimum packing and transportation systems, (4) specialized storage environments, (5) specific planting media for each bulb species, (6) improved greenhouse environments, (7) improved marketing procedures, (8) more species for forcing, and (9) computer aided expert production and forcing systems that include insect and disease monitoring. In addition, research on non-conventional forcing techniques for highly specialized forcing systems is needed. Examples are: (1) the use of extremely high or low temperatures for very short periods, (2) modified atmosphere storage systems, (3) modified atmospheric pressure systems, and (4) other stress related techniques that produce positive flowering responses. Many improvements in technology will come from successful bioengineering of bulbs used for forcing. Useful genes must be identified that will: (1) reduce cold-week requirements, (2) stresses due to ethylene, diseases and insects, and (3) use mychorriza for efficient nutrient utilization. Clearly, innovative techniques that are easily adapted by the forcing industry will contribute markedly.