New Powdery Mildew-Resistant Tomato Varieties
June 25, 2013 
Close to 100 growers gathered on June 18-19 in Ontario, Canada, for the annual De Ruiter Demo Days. The company showcased its latest varieties and gave growers a preview of its tomato pipeline, which is focused on high production, quality, and resistance to powdery mildew, said Jeff Gilbert, De Ruiter technology development representative.
Among those products showcased were two recently commercialized tomato hybrids with intermediate resistance to powdery mildew: Merlice and Foronti. Merlice is a cluster hybrid tomato variety with large, round fruit. With very uniform jointless trusses, this variety has an excellent cluster presentation and easily lays flat in the box. The high vigor of the variety combined with an excellent resistance package gives this variety very high yield potential. Merlice has intermediate resistance to powdery mildew, making it a good option for growers with reduced spray programs, according to the company.
Foronti maintains firmness in hot weather, performing well in areas with high light and hot summers. Featuring high yield potential and high vigor, this strong-balanced beef tomato hybrid has a large leaf canopy. According to De Ruiter, Foronti’s deep red fruit has the potential to ripen quickly and uniformly, and has a good shelf life.
New in tomato rootstock is DR0141TX, a vigorous, high yield potential variety for the high-tech glasshouse environment.
“The De Ruiter Demo Days give our customers an opportunity to preview the pipeline and compare our pre-commercial products to leading commercial varieties,” explained Gilbert. “It also provides us with a great opportunity to get feedback and listen to individual customer demands.”
Gilbert added that De Ruiter, which is known as is Monsanto’s heated protected-culture vegetable brand, is committed to anticipating the latest developments and trends in the glasshouse market. “We are confident that the varieties showcased during the Demo Days could help provide growers with advanced, specialized products.”
For more information about De Ruiter, visit www.deruiterseeds.com.
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