Maximinus is a green to red blocky capsicum which matures between 10-21 days earlier than most other varieties, including the popular Warlock variety.
Seminis National Sales Manager Darren Wood said the new variety was bred specifically for Queensland growers.
“Maximinus was developed with grower productivity in mind. It has a speedy colour change from green to red, and its high level of leaf cover and excellent fruit uniformity means most fruit should be able to be harvested in the first pass.
“Based on what we’ve seen in trials, the cost to grow Maximinus should be less than other varieties, because the time to harvest is shorter and most fruit can be harvested at once.
“We hope this variety will improve profitability for Queensland growers. We know the market is difficult at the moment so we are pleased to offer growers the ability to speed up harvest and provide some welcome gross-margin relief.”
Mr Wood said the launch of Maximinus is testament to Seminis’ strong capsicum research and development pipeline.
“Our capsicum breeders are well connected with Australian growers. They travel to Australia annually to gather feedback from Queensland growers on attributes like disease resistance, fruit size, shape and colour in order to breed products best suited to the local market.”
In addition to its fast-maturing ability, Maximinus has resistance to Bacterial Leaf Spot races 1-5, which mitigates growers’ risk of loss to disease.