The Next Big Developments In Vegetable Seed

American Vegetable Grower recently asked some of the nation’s leading vegetable seed breeders questions about the future of the industry. We wanted to hear directly from the horse’s mouth what will be the next big developments or trends in vegetable seed varieties.

Their responses covered everything from listening to consumers to the development of specific traits to genetic engineering. In fact, in our State of the Industry survey, we asked whether growers would produce a GMO crop if one was available to them. The responses we received may come as a surprise to some.

Does this mean this breeding technology will gain traction in the coming years? We will have to wait and see. In the meantime, here’s what breeders have to say on where they see their own corners of the industry headed.

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Bryant Long for webAbbott & Cobb
Bryant Long
Sweet Corn Breeder

“The industry is ever changing, and new varieties in every vegetable class are essential in order to make all involved profitable — from the grower to the consumer. By the way, that happens to be my personal definition of job security.”

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Nunhems' Yen Ming Chang

Nunhems’ Yen Ming Chang

Bayer CropScience Vegetable Seeds, Nunhems USA, Inc. 

Yen Ming Chang
Watermelon Breeder

“At Bayer, we believe in sustainable agriculture. With the labor shortages, adverse weather conditions, and consumer demands, new varieties need to provide growers not only better yield and quality but also lower input costs.“

 

 

 

Dave Whitwood, Crookham

Dave Whitwood, Crookham

Crookham Company
Dave Whitwood
Onion Breeder

“I can’t speak for the rest of the industry, but here at Crookham Company, we are striving to respond to consumer needs. We have one of the world’s largest germplasm banks in sweet corn, popcorn, and onions. This allows us to quickly respond to market and grower requirements.”

 

 

Bill Copes, HM Clause

Bill Copes, HM Clause

HM Clause
Bill Copes
Melon Breeder

“I think the issue will be fruit quality and flavor. We feel that our melon germplasm has good flavor. We are working on this trait very closely and are beginning to understand the highly complex relationships that create the flavor profiles desired by consumers. Our capability to understand flavor, select for it, and create products that have somewhat predictable flavor attributes, especially with the long shelf life background, is going to be the next big development. It is not inexpensive science, either. It requires lots of resources to do it effectively.

Also, and we have seen this in tomato and in melons, I think that given the genetic diversity we work with, we have an ability to create novel types, such as melon varieties that don’t look like what people have been seeing for years. There is more acceptance of that. Growers are looking for more unique types that can be marketed in different ways. I see that as another trend.”

Lindsay Wyatt

Lindsay Wyatt

Rpb Johnston

Rpb Johnston

Johnny’s Selected Seeds
Rob Johnston, Founder and Chairman, and Lindsay Wyatt, Squash and
Pumpkin Breeder

“Maybe this isn’t the next big development, but a trend that we think will continue is an increased demand for flavor and quality. This is something that has been historically overlooked, with the classic example of tomatoes bred for shipability and not flavor.

We hope that people will become more aware of the quality that is available and the diversity that is available, and that it will become trendy to buy different kinds of squash, for example. It is all about getting people thinking more about vegetables. It would be really great if that continues.”

Johan Schut, Rijk Zwaan

Johan Schut, Rijk Zwaan

Rijk Zwaan 
Johan Schut
Lettuce Breeder

“I think an important development will be the KNOX-trait, which we are introducing in our newest lettuce varieties. This trait delays the cut surface discoloration process which often spoils the visual quality of processed lettuce bags. KNOX-lettuce will help the salad processing industry to provide a better, longer-shelf life product to the consumer. We hope this will reduce negative consumer experiences with ready-to-eat salads and thus increase fresh salad consumption.”

 

 

 

 

Nihat Guner, Sakata Seed America

Nihat Guner, Sakata Seed America

Sakata Seed America
Nihat Guner
Watermelon Breeder

“It is difficult to pinpoint one big thing to develop next in vegetable varieties. The next big improvements will focus on challenges like new disease emergence, drought, salty soils, lack of labor, longer shelf life, higher nutritional value, etc.

We’ve got disease problems emerging and growers are dealing with the drought in California. If one part of the world is dry, we have to ship more watermelons, and that means they will need to have a longer shelf life. There also will be a need for more nutritious food. These are areas breeders are looking into, so not just one big development will be coming, there will be many.”

 

 

Buskirk_Patty Seeds by Design for webSeeds By Design
Patty Buskirk
Vegetable Breeder, Tomatoes

“The next big thing that ultimately everyone is going to have to embrace is genetic engineering. It will be the only way to step up higher levels of things like high-quality processing tomatoes with extremely long shelf life.

It won’t happen in my market because my area is a niche market and it is fragmented, but if looking at the overall picture of the large-scale vegetable production market, I see no other way we will be able to produce mass amounts of those products in 20 years unless that technology is ultimately embraced.

The reason I think that is because labor will be more of an issue for ag producers, so anything [breeders] do and every new breakthrough will be hinged on decreasing labor at the farm level. Whether it be genetic engineering or drought tolerance, anything that will reduce labor on the farm in the next 10 to 15 years will be the next accepted process.”

Bill McCarthy, Seminis

Bill McCarthy, Seminis

Seminis
Bill McCarthy
Pepper Breeder

“I think there will be a continued increase in consumption of colored bells. I think 10 to 20 years ago many people didn’t try colored bell peppers, probably because of their cost. Now we are seeing mini pointed products in the marketplace, and the baby bells. I think people are discovering how good they are. To me, it is amazing that you can have a vegetable that is so good for you and tastes good at the same time. We all are working toward eating better. If you can provide a product that tastes good and is good for you, that is a pretty amazing package right there.”

 

 

 

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Avatar for Dahlimama Dahlimama says:

Ah! We all bemoan the shipper tomato but through most of the year I do not have a fresh market tomato available to me in my local market here in the North East. I am glad that shipper tomatoes exist so that I can have fresh tomatoes all year long, that was not always the case. Now I look forward to a supply of tomatoes all year long with summer flavor and I’m sure the breeders are working on that goal, it will just take time.

Avatar for Dahlimama Dahlimama says:

I agree with part of that argument, we do need to embrace GMO technology it is crucial to our ability to feed a growing population. What I disagree with is decreasing the level of farm workers. Every level of business has as a major goal reducing their need for workers, I don’t think I have to spell out what the outcome of having massive populations of people without jobs or a means of support means to an economy. I believe we are setting ourselves up for a revolution and not in plant breeding. It is time to think, do we really want a society where 75% of people do not have a job? We are thrilled that there is now a robot that can move potted plants from one location to another but have we thought about the people displaced and that they now do not have the money to buy our products? It’s time to think carefully, do we want to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs just because we can?

Avatar for Alice Beauchene Alice Beauchene says:

The buttons do not work — I would like to read more than the first screen to see what those developments are. I am on a Mac.

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