WEBVTT

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Right now I'm in Almería.

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This is one of the world's
biggest tomato producing areas,

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with a focus on exports
to the whole of Europe.

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Behind me you can see the plastic sea.

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That's what they call it.

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And we are breeding tomatoes
and also other crops.

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And right now, I'm really involved
in the breeding process,

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checking the right characteristics
and making new varieties.

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We are focusing on disease resistance,

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also on yield
and the correct shape of the fruit,

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but also quality characteristics
like the color of the fruit,

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the taste and the inside,
what they look like,

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because they are important
for the consumer.

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We are setting up
the whole breeding program,

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which means breeding from scratch.

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So we focus on breeding lines
for the right characteristics.

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Also, we need to source
gene bank material,

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check the combining ability of lines
to create hybrids,

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and we need to get additional markers
for important characteristics.

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Before, I was working in Pop Vriend Seeds
in the Netherlands for open field crops,

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and I was working in the seed
production department on mainly spinach

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and bean production.

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The fruity crops and the field
crops have in common that disease

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resistance is very important in both,
but they are also quite different.

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For example,

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the speed of breeding in fruity crops
is much faster than in the open field.

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Also, the fruity crops are wet crops.

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For instance, the open fields
are dry,

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which means that the harvest of the seeds
is quite different,

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and of course, the seed
volumes are very different,

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and the grower
and the market dynamics as well.

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What I really like about my job
is that I can work

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with my hands and my head,
and this is a perfect combination for me.

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And moreover,
there's lots of things to learn.

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And the idea to contribute to better
varieties seems very appealing to me.