On Monday 13 May, 2024, the International Working Group in spinach (IWGP) has denominated a new race of the downy mildew pathogen (Peronospora effusa) on spinach: Pe.20. Many downy mildew isolates with the same new virulence pattern have been reported from Europe and the U.S. in 2023, prompting IWGP to denominate race Pe. 20. Seed breeding company Pop Vriend Seeds confirms that many of the varieties in its commercial program are resistant to Pe. 20. That means the crop quality remains as good as ever.
Mark Charlesworth, Product Manager Spinach at Pop Vriend Seeds
Mark Charlesworth, Product Manager Spinach at Pop Vriend Seeds states: "Spinach breeding is driven by disease resistance, so you have to be dynamic. Our strong focus on spinach allows us to respond super-fast. We are constantly monitoring and developing new resistances to our varieties. That way, we can offer our customers varieties that have the maximum resistance available in the market today."
Spinach 365
Besides breeding varieties with maximum disease resistance, Pop Vriend Seeds also has a strong focus on having the best phenotypes. This resulted in a tailor-made spinach program: Spinach 365. Together with their customers, the specialists of Pop Vriend Seeds dive into the local challenges of growing spinach and develop a customized spinach program. This program consists of a series of varieties that produce uniformly thick, fork-sized, dark-green leaves with a long shelf life and good crunch.
Johan Rijk, Spinach Breeder at Pop Vriend Seeds.
Johan Rijk, Spinach Breeder at Pop Vriend Seeds says: "We predicted the consumer demand for uniform high-quality spinach year-round many years ago. It encouraged us to develop our Spinach 365 solution, which we first launched in the United States and also implemented it in Italy, Spain, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom since then. Our Spinach 365 program covers all growing slots, which guarantees all partners in the vegetable value chain a stable supply. Our spinach varieties perform extremely well on horticultural value, which make them also very efficient to process and pack."
For more information:
Mark Charlesworth
Pop Vriend Seeds
www.popvriendseeds.com/downloads