Arie Baelde

Arie Baelde was born in the Netherlands deep into the last century. I grew up in a vegetable growing family and studied horticulture, specialising in plant breeding. My plant breeding career was enjoyable but came to an abrupt end when I migrated to Australia in 1987 and established a subsidiary for a Dutch seed company. The development of the subsidiary coincided with the development of the protected cropping and ready to eat salad industries. During the last 10 years of my working life I was responsible for the management of Rijk Zwaan's South East Asian activities together with a Dutch colleague. In this partnership my focus area was R&D strategy and implementation. In retirement I ride my mountain bike in various groups, grow blueberries and try to breed new berry varieties.