Rijk Zwaan's location in Fijnaart hosted this year's demo days from mid-September until the end of October. From start to finish, the demo of open-field crops was well attended by a wide variety of visitors, including plant breeders, retailers, growers and processing companies. One of the particular highlights this year was KNOX®, a trait in lettuce varieties which slows down the leaf discolouration process caused by oxidation.
We presented this lettuce innovation at the end of September and KNOX® varieties were on display in the demo field immediately afterwards, says Arno van Oers, Demo Field Coordinator. Our customers are very interested in KNOX®. We want to use this winter to prepare an overview of all the enquiries we've received from growers and processing companies so that we can run widespread trials in 2016. But there was lots more for visitors to see too. This year, for the first time, we had two rocket varieties on display in the field to stimulate discussion with our customers, since interaction is very important to us. During the demo, our crop advisors take all the time needed to share their knowledge and expertise with customers and provide individual advice.
Another eye-catcher in the demo field was spinach. Thanks to the downy mildew resistance in spinach (HR Pfs: 1-15) there was lots of interest in our HR varieties, adds Arno. Spinach and the other open-field crops seem to be attracting more and more attention each year. We're delighted that, despite the extreme weather conditions and heavy rainfall, we were able to show our visitors a reasonably good demo field!
For more information
Rijk Zwaan De Lier
Burgemeester Crez?elaan 40 / P.O. Box 40
2678 ZG De Lier
Netherlands
T +31(0)174 532 300
F +31(0)174 532 166