New broccoli varieties developed to improve harvest efficiency and cauliflowers with greater summer field-holding characteristics will be some of the breeding advances being presented by Seminis at the Brassica and Leafy Salad Conference on 19th January. Across the walkway, will be crop protection colleagues from Bayer who will share data on the performance of a new SDHI foliar fungicide expected to receive regulatory authorisation in 2023.
“High Rise® is the range of broccoli varieties that promise to improve harvest efficiency. These are taller and more erect than other types with a cleaner stem, making them faster to harvest by hand and very well-suited to machine harvesting. As such they are attracting strong interest from growers as they try to reduce the need for seasonal labour,” says Sharon MacGregor, Seminis open field UK and Nordics sales manager.
The Curdivex® range of cauliflower varieties are another breeding innovation attracting strong interest among growers.
“Curdivex® varieties feature a white curd with less curd cover, retain their white colour for longer, giving better quality,” says Mrs MacGregor. “Future developments in this range will include varieties better suited to processors. These include higher yield potential and types with smaller florets for prepared and frozen foods,” she adds.
New for 2022 with be spinach trials involving a new seed treatment. Growers are invited to visit the stand for more details. Disease and pest control is a perennial challenge in all crops and in support of growers, Bayer Crop Science will be offering advice on Rudis (prothioconazole) and Nativo (trifloxystrobin + tebuconazole) in controlling foliar diseases in brassicas, leeks, and carrots.
“We have a pipeline SDHI fungicide product that is showing great promise and for which we will share performance information with growers ahead of its expected authorisation in 2023,” explains Claire Matthewman, Bayer campaign manager for horticulture.
With the loss of active substances, the insect control afforded by our bioinsecticide FLiPPER (fatty acids C7-C20) has attracted interest among growers, not least for its broad pest spectrum of activity, zero harvest interval and its’ exemption from maximum residue limit testing.
“Vegetable crop trials from 2021 and earlier seasons continue to inform the application advice we provide to growers and in this respect, we have valuable new data to share ahead of the 2022 season,” says Mrs Matthewman.
For more information:
Rachael Roberts
Bayer
Tel: +44 1223 226 526
Email: rachael.roberts@bayer.com
www.bayer.com