Downy Mildew Resistant Cucumber Varieties
April 24, 2012 
This spring, two new hybrid options that help protect against downy mildew will be available to cucumber growers in the U.S. and Canada. Monsanto’s Seminis brand offers two slicer cucumber varieties that will increase harvestable yield potential and enable a reduction in both the number and cost associated with the fungicidal sprays currently used to control the disease, according to the company.
The two downy mildew resistant cucumber varieties — SV3462CS and SV4719CS — will be offered exclusively with FarMore® F1400 Cucumber Technology from Syngenta Seed Care. Conventional breeding and a new donor were used to make this hybrid, which provides growers with a more flexible spray schedule.
“Downy mildew is a globally-significant disease problem affecting yield and quality for many crops, including cucumbers,” said Ronnie Blackley, Monsanto’s Cucurbit Technology Development Lead. “We are very excited to offer cucumber growers a new defense against this damaging disease, which was previously limited to fungicides.”
Scott Weathington, president of the agricultural consulting firm Agri-Technologies, had the opportunity to test these two new varieties in various field trials over the past year. Weathington said he tested both varieties with a seven-day spray program under high downy mildew pressure.
“Compared to two leading commercial varieties, both varieties were equal in terms of yield, quality, shelf life, and color in trials where pressure was low. Even under high pressure, 3462 [SV3462CS] has a good fruit shape, foliage, resistance to downy mildew,” he explained. “4719 [SV4719CS] also has good fruit shape, superior foliage resistance to downy, and it was beautiful in the field.”
Bill Brim, a grower in Tifton, GA, also had the chance to view these new varieties on his farm this past year. “We had a trial of the Seminis downy mildew resistant cucumbers on my farm and you could definitely see a difference where the pressure affected those cucumbers a lot less than in the others,” he explained. Brim is one of about a dozen Seminis New Product Innovators, a new program that gives select growers the first look at new products and technologies like these new downy mildew resistant hybrids.
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