Despite very bad weather conditions in September, Bayer CropScience looks back on the Nunhems lettuce demo weeks in a very positive way. “Especially now, we could show our customers how strong Nunhems lettuce varieties perform under difficult weather conditions,” says Stefan Hermans, Sales Specialist Lettuce.
During a period of 3 weeks, growers and retailers from all over the world were able to visit the demo location of Bayer CropScience Vegetable Seeds in ’s-Gravenzande. The Crop team lettuce welcomed visitors from many European countries, but also from the United States, Canada, South-Africa, Chile and Australia. “The combination of the outdoor lettuce demo and the indoor hydroponic lettuce demo was very well received by our visitors," says Peter Does, Product Specialist Lettuce.
New in outdoor lettuce
The outdoor demo field not only showed the complete Nunhems commercial lettuce assortment but also the most promising trial varieties for outdoor lettuce production in Europe. In addition, it included the Nunhems worldwide highlights, plus the baby leaves and spinach assortment.
In Iceberg the trial variety NUN 00177 LTL° performed very well and it will be introduced commercially in the coming season. In the Nunhems Iceberg assortment NUN 00177 LTL fits with Gondar, Templin and Skindel. It is an iceberg with a larger head shape which performs especially well in medium and heavy soils. The variety has an excellent field life and a long harvest window. The NUN 00177 LTL makes a little more leaf coverage which protects very well against sunburn, heavy rains, frost, etc. Due to the stable head shape, a slightly upright base and smooth ribs, the variety has an excellent field life and a long harvest window. The NUN 00177 LTL can be harvested very fast. “The variety seems to be strong against diverse soil diseases, which we encountered often this autumn because of the wet weather conditions.” says Stefan Hermans. “Next to the introduction of NUN 0177 LTL we will continue with NUN 00173 LTL° in our trials. This variety is a little smaller and gains weight a bit faster, which makes it suitable for the lighter sandy soils. Both icebergs are suitable for all season production.”
New in the Mini Romaine segment is the all season variety NUN 06535° LTL. NUN 06535 LTL has a very good upright shape with small ribs and a smooth base. It is very strong against bolting and tip-burn. The single, separated leaves around the head make this mini romaine easy and fast to clean after harvesting. NUN 06535 LTL is a bit taller than Thimble and fills a little later. This makes Thimble and NUN 06535 LTL a perfect combination for an optimal harvest window. Due to their stable, well-closed heads Thimble and NUN 06535 LTL can be packed in flow pack very fast and easily.
Hydroponic lettuce
What was very interesting for visitors of the Nunhems lettuce demo weeks was the combination of outdoor and hydroponic lettuce demo. In the hydroponic lettuce demo they could evaluate a wide range of commercial and trial varieties for both floating and NFT systems. Innovative in the hydroponic assortment are the Nunhems Multicolor Mixes. Multi-color mixes become more and more popular with modern consumers. Bayer CropScience Vegetable Seeds developed and selected several new Multileaf® varieties with brighter colors than traditional lettuce types. This makes Nunhems Multileaf® varieties particularly attractive in a multi-color color combination. In addition, these varieties have been selected on their uniform growth speed, benefitting a larger harvest window and providing more flexibility in the planning.
Bayer: Science For A Better Life
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the Life Science fields of health care and agriculture. Its products and services are designed to benefit people and improve their quality of life. At the same time, the Group aims to create value through innovation, growth and high earning power. Bayer is committed to the principles of sustainable development and to its social and ethical responsibilities as a corporate citizen. In fiscal 2014, the Group employed around 119,000 people and had sales of EUR 42.2 billion. Capital expenditures amounted to EUR 2.5 billion, R&D expenses to EUR 3.6 billion. These figures include those for the high-tech polymers business, which is to be floated on the stock market as Covestro by mid-2016 at the latest.
For more information about the Nunhems lettuce assortment or to visit the hydroponic lettuce demo facilities in ‘s-Gravenzande, please contact:
Bayer CropScience
UK and Ireland
Brian Peñaloza
T: +44 (0) 7805 607 557
Scandinavia
Svenn Nilsson
T: +45 212 76745
Peter Does
T: +31-6-1505 2023