Bayer has introduced a new long-day yellow onion variety to its range: Joaquin F1*, a truly amazing variety that stands out for its high yield and low amount of discards after reaching a large calibre, unlike other varieties of the same cycle on the market. With these characteristics, it is expected to quickly become a leading variety, as they are very advantageous not only for the producer, but also for the distributors.
With Joaquin F1*, Bayer's onion team has managed to meet the needs of producers, who seek safe and highly productive onions, even in adverse conditions. It is a highly vigorous plant, able to tolerate any stress situation. "Joaquin F1* does not experience changes in its vegetative growth to the same extent as other varieties after the application of herbicide treatments, among other stress factors. It can also withstand thrips attacks because of the great vigour of the plant," explains Curro de La Cruz Valera, Bayer Onion Account Manager.
Good shelf life
Besides the important advantages for the producer, Joaquin F1* is a long-day yellow onion with very good shelf life, a well adhered skin and a very attractive colour. Therefore, it is a suitable variety for export, since it perfectly meets the quality requirements of consumers in markets as important as Germany and the United Kingdom.
"True to our custom of creating new concepts, we have made a big step forward in terms of innovation in the long-day yellow onion segment with Joaquin F1*, showing that it is viable and profitable to supply a strong variety that can handle any adversities and eliminate the problem of discards," adds Curro de la Cruz.
Joaquin F1* is a long-cycle variety intended for the usual sowing dates, between mid-January and mid-March. Currently, Joaquin F1* is the latest variety under the Nunhems® brand in the long-day yellow onion segment and will be complemented in the market by other leading varieties, such as Vaquero F1, Valero F1, Granero F1, Utrero F1 and Pandero F1 .
Higher quality at lower cost
Joaquin F1* represents Bayer's firm commitment to offering new, better onion varieties that make it possible to obtain a higher quality product at a lower cost. To achieve this goal, Bayer's long-day onion improvement program has focused on obtaining varieties with better shelf life in storage, quality for industrial processing and with a high level of stress tolerance, either biotic or abiotic. "Some of the biotic factors that we are working on are Thrips and the Iris Yellow Spot Virus, a viral disease transmitted by Thrips. Both the insect vector and the virus transmitted are considered priorities, because they affect not only the production of bulbs, but also that of onion seeds," said Juan Carlos Brevis, Bayer geneticist, during the technical conference held in Barrax, in the Spanish province of Albacete, for the official presentation of Joaquin F1*.
Elías Martínez, of Bioera
In the technical conference, the president of the Association of Onion Growers and Exporters (ACEC), Alfonso Tarazona, assessed the current situation of European onion trade. The improvement of the crop's efficiency through microorganisms has been the topic presented by Elías Martínez de la Cuesta, of the company Bioera. The presentations have been the ideal complement to the field visits to learn about the innovative qualities of Joaquin F1*, the new long-day onion variety marketed under the Nunhems® brand that has earned the trust of all those attending the event.
*APC granted and is in the process of being requested for inclusion in the EC Common Catalogue of Vegetable Varieties.
More information:
Elvira Vitores
Tel.: (+34) 950 497 776