The propagation and cultivation of plants is not only possible via seeds and in soil, but also via vegetative processes in vitro - "in the glass". By excision of plant tissues and their cultivation in vitro it is possible to generate and propagate genetically identical copies, or clones, of a plant.

Using this approach, we maintain and multiply thousands of elite genotypes, i.e. plants of high breeding value with unique genetic fingerprints and characteristic traits. The collection of in vitro clones corresponds to a permanent stock of our most precious genotypes and thus constitutes a "gene bank" of our breeding material. Clones of genotypes that are used in test crosses and whose progenies perform exceptionally well in field trials can be retrieved from in vitro culture and re-planted in soil in the greenhouse. Thus, these genotypes are available to our breeders all year round for production of larger amounts of basic seed, new test crosses and continued, comprehensive performance trials.