Vegetable Varieties From Across The Country

Abbott & Cobb: Focusing On The Consumer

Esparto, CA — Sure, Abbott & Cobb wants to make growers happy, Hasib Humaydan, the company’s vice president of Research and Development, was saying. But to do that, Abbott & Cobb must focus on the actual consumer of the produce, because if the end user isn’t happy, no one’s going to be happy.

“We are breeding for the consumer first,” says Humaydan, who was hosting visitors at the company’s annual California seed trial. “If we’re not breeding for the consumer, we’re wasting time.”

It’s a bit of a balancing act, says Humaydan, taking the needs of both the consumer and grower into account. “(Seed) has to be grower-friendly, because without good yields, it won’t work,” he says. “But consumer acceptance has to be No. 1.”

And what do consumers want? At Abbott & Cobb, they are betting that consumers want, among other things, fresh-cut watermelon. It’s not only easy to consume, but with the right breeding, it’s very sweet, with attractive, smooth red flesh. “So we talked to the fresh-cut folks, and they weren’t happy because they wanted more density and shelflife,” he says. “So we came out with the SuperSeedless program 10 years ago, developing it with the idea that fresh-cut is here to stay.”

It was a good bet. Today, the SuperSeedless® program accounts for 60% of the pre-cut watermelon sold in North America, says Humaydan. Though not all are for the U.S. market, there are 30 named varieties in the program, which is a good example of the company’s philosophy. “Abbott & Cobb doesn’t sell varieties,” he says. “We sell programs.”

Here’s a brief look at some of the company’s other melon programs, in addition to SuperSeedless.

• XLT Melons — XLT stands for “Extended Life and Taste.” There are 20 varieties in the XLT program, with the main ones being XLT9101 and XLT9201. They are ideal for the fresh market, says Humaydan, because they are 22% more dense than the average melon, helping ensure extended life.

• XLS Melons — These melons have the same attributes as the XLT melons, but with the addition of suturing or striping, hence the “S.” Sutured melons are more of an Eastern melon, traditionally, but they are gaining more and more favor with consumers from all over. Many consumers are looking to get back to the older looking varieties, believing they will pack more flavor.

• TMX Melons — These also have extended life and taste, hence the “X.” But the “TM” stands for Tuscany melons. All Tuscany melons are sutured, so like the XLS, they will be quite distinct from the traditional cantaloupes, whether western shippers or muskmelons. The TMX program is new, says Humaydan, and will be available beginning in 2008.

• XLTS3 Melons — These melons have all the attributes of the XLT melons, except they are personal-sized. Designed to be eaten by just one person, the S3 moniker refers to their ease of use: “Slice, Scoop, and Serve.” Growers can begin trialing these mini-melons in 2008, says Humaydan.

D. Palmer Seed: Seeking Diversity

Editor’s Note: In early October D. Palmer expanded, merging with the New England Seed Co. of Hartford, CT to form DP Seeds. D. Palmer will remain as a separate entity, however. New England Seed owns Carolina Seed, and carries a full line of commercial vegetable seed varieties.

Modesto, CA — To understand his seed company, Duane Palmer says growers have to understand that he doesn’t have any plant breeders on staff. Instead, the Yuma, AZ, seed company has 15 independent breeders from around the world under contract. “It gives us a diversity of breeding philosophy and a diversity of germplasm,” says Palmer. “Because we have breeders from all over the world, we have something for everybody.”

The global approach is critical, says Palmer with a nod toward some of the people attending his August seed trial in Modesto, CA. The visitors were from Greece, South Africa, Chile, and Holland that morning, reflecting the trial’s international flavor. If Palmer sees potential in one of the breeders’ seed, he makes it available for testing to the 39 domestic and 20 international seed dealers who market his seed. “We get to look at a lot of product,” says Palmer. “It’s really a $5-to-$7 million dollar research program that doesn’t cost us anything.”

Palmer believes that many consumers desire to “get back” to tastier vegetables and melons, partly in response to the trend of the past few decades to emphasize appearance and “shippability” over taste. “We’re going back to the 1940s and ‘50s as far as flavor is concerned,” he says. “We’re combining the needs of today, in terms of shippability, with the culinary experience of years ago.” Here are a few of the varieties Palmer was showing off at the company’s seed trial.

• Grandma’s Treat — This is one of five tomato varieties from a program Palmer is calling “From Grandma’s Garden.” They are heirloom-type tomatoes that have been hybridized for higher yields, disease protection, and uniformity. They require a little more care than the typical commercial tomato. For instance, growers need to pack and ship in single-level flats. “They’re not great shippers, but they can be shipped, and they have superb flavor,” he says.

• Tasty Bites — This new personal-sized mixed melon is designed to be just the right size for seniors and kids. Besides better flavor, Palmer is trying to increase nutrition in certain varieties, especially those like Tasty Bites that will be marketed to kids. To that end, the variety has been altered so that it provides 2% more Vitamin C than a regular cantaloupe.

• Master’s Choice — This new Tuscan mixed melon is another example of getting back to better taste. Characterized by dark-green sutures or stripes, Tuscan melons are starting to gain favor in conventional supermarkets, particularly in the Eastern U.S., says Palmer.

• Obsidian — This hybrid zucchini squash has an extra-dark green color and an elongated shape. The highly productive plants have an open-bush habit, and extensive disease tolerance package, including zucchini yellow mosaic virus, squash leaf curl virus, and powdery mildew race 2. “It’s for all growing areas,” says Palmer. “It’s doing well from Florida all the way up to (the northern San Joaquin Valley).”

• HP-06-51 — This as-yet unnamed hybrid jalapeño pepper will be available in 2008. Palmer says trials in all growing regions have shown good disease tolerance. This new variety is more in tune with consumer desires, says Palmer.

Johnny’s Selected Seeds: Taking Over

Modesto, CA — You’ll have to forgive Johnny’s employees if they act like they own the place. After all, they do. “Johnny’s is 100% in an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Program ),” Mike Gold, the commercial sales rep who handles the California seed trial each year says proudly. “Johnny’s is now employee-owned.”

Well, almost. Founder and longtime owner Rob Johnston entered into a transition program with his employees that will take several years. But it’s clear to Gold and his colleagues that it’s just a matter of time before the company is handed down. “Rob had no interested family members, but his employees are like his family,” says Gold. “So now we’re all in this together.”

Maybe that’s why Gold had a little extra hop in his step as he showed interested visitors around the company’s seed trial in Modesto. And maybe that’s why, when we stopped at the first variety he selected as a standout, the Islander pepper, he used such nontechnical words as “awesome” to describe the yield. Here’s a brief look at some of the outstanding varieties.

• Islander — The first thing you notice about this bell pepper is its striking appearance, as it starts out lavender, with pale yellow flesh. As it matures, it becomes violet with orange streaks, eventually turning a rich, dark red. The plants themselves are striking, because while the yields are huge, there is not a lot of foliage. “Yet there’s very little of the sun scald you’d normally see,” says Gold.

• Carmen — This specialty pepper came out last year, and was selected as a 2006 All-American Selections winner. An Italian “bull’s horn” (corno di toro) sweet pepper, it was bred in part by Johnston. It gets extremely sweet when fully red-ripe, and yields well. One bonus, says Gold, is that because of its extremely upright growth habit, there’s very little of the rot that can be seen in other pepper varieties.

• Sun Gold — This indeterminate cherry variety has an intensely sweet, fruity flavor. However, because it’s prone to splitting, it doesn’t pack well, so it’s strictly for farm stands. The kid glove treatment is worth it, says Gold, who likes the variety so much that he had bowls of them put out at his own wedding reception for guests to snack on. “In my mind, it’s the best-tasting cherry tomato,” he says, popping one in his mouth. “It tastes just like candy.”

• Sarah’s Choice — This cantaloupe is of the muskmelon type favored in the Eastern U.S. Like many of the hot new varieties, it’s small, or “personal-sized.” Besides superior flavor and nice texture, Gold says it’s most outstanding characteristic might be its extraordinarily small seed cavity.

• Charisma — This pumpkin hits that perfect medium size that people like for carving Jack O’Lanterns, says Gold. Combining parentage from Johnny’s and Cornell University, it has excellent powdery mildew resistance. That’s important, because while powdery mildew won’t always attack the fruit, it can weaken the stem, and stems are important for Jack O’Lanterns.

Sakata: Plowing New Ground

San Joaquin Valley, CA — In mid-August, Sakata Seed America, Inc. showed off some hot new varieties — in more ways than one — at its new warm season crops research station in the San Joaquin Valley. The company is leasing 60 acres for its new research farm, with an option to purchase, at a site located just off Interstate 5 near the famed Harris Ranch. Cool season crop trials will continue to be held near the company’s headquarters in the Salinas Valley.

One of the hosts for the warm season trial was none other than Atlee Burpee, great grandson of the man who founded the Burpee Seed Co. Atlee never had an interest in the Burpee seed company, as his great uncle sold the company to General Foods in 1969. But that was OK with Atlee, as Burpee produced seed for home gardens, and he’s always been interested in real farming. In fact, he came west from his Pennsylvania home — where today he serves as the company’s eastern sales manager — to study commercial agriculture at the University of California (UC)-Davis.

At the seed trial, Burpee and his counterpart in Central America, Javier Martinez, proudly showed off several varieties, from the company’s newest pepper to new melons that will be available in 2008. Here’s a brief look.

• Red Bull — No, not the energy drink, though the Sakata folks are plenty energized by their newest commercially available green-to-red blocky bell pepper. Medium to large plants with excellent canopy produce heavy sets of fruit with extra-thick walls. It was rated the top yielder at trials at both UC-Davis and the University of Florida, says Burpee. In addition, it has resistance to bacterial leaf spot races 1, 2, and 3.

• Sweet Hearts — This grape tomato variety is not new; it’s been out two years, but Burpee says he is excited about it just the same. The indeterminate plants produce impressive yields with continuous sets and full clusters of very firm, brilliant red fruit. Originally targeted at the Southeast, says Burpee, the variety has been such a hit that the company’s now bringing it to the Southwest. “We feel it has better cracking resistance than a lot of varieties out there,” he says. “That means growers can harvest the fruit when it’s more mature and the sugar content’s higher, so the consumer gets a better eating experience.”

• Earlipack — This new pumpkin is a deep orange color, with a uniform blocky round shape. It has dark green handles that are strongly attached, making it great for the bin market. The size, about 19 pounds, makes it a perfect fit. “The business has shifted away from the larger sizes,” says Burpee. “The large retailers want the medium sizes.”

• SME 1256 — This melon, which will be available in 2008, is a medium-large crisp-flesh Western Shipper intended for California, Arizona, and Mexico. It has high yields, high sugars, and a dry cavity, and is tolerant to both fusarium wilt and powdery mildew. “It is the first Western Shipper to have Race 1 resistance,” says Sakata melon breeder Lakhwinder Randhawa.

• SME 1268 — Another new melon to be released in 2008, but this one’s a musk melon, and is intended for growers in the East and Southeast. It is notable for its consistently high sugar content, making it suitable not only as a shipper but as a farm market variety.

Siegers Seed: Knowing What Is The Best

New Holland, MI — “As quality vegetable seed distributors, when we say a variety is the best one for you, we know it is the best.”

That’s what Jeff Siegers, professional seed consultant for Siegers Seed Co., had to say at a recent field trial about how the company runs its business.

Thanks to extensive research, Siegers helps to provide growers with the best varieties for their particular growing regions. Each year the company trials new varieties of vegetable seed from 40 companies throughout the U.S. and around the world.

Jamie Scholten, product development coordinator for Siegers, says their job as the seed supplier is to position the products that have the most economic viability, and that is done via extensive research and conducting trials. “We are the growers heartbeat to the market,” he adds.

The market is very different now compared to what it was like five years ago, he continues. “Every grower is different, and crops are grown differently, from one grower to the next,” he says. “On top of that, vegetables are now grown under different cultural practices.”

Keeping that in mind, the trial in Hartford, last August focused on the latest pepper and tomato varieties. Here are the highlights.

• Regalo — This jalapeño that Siegers says holds its own and is high yielding is bred by Orsetti Seed Co. It boasts a dark color and with uniform size. This variety is a fresh market pepper that crosses over into processing.

• New Park — Another jalapeño, this variety is produced by United Genetics designed for the processing market. This variety’s cap pops right off the top, which is a requirement for processors. “It is one of the highest yielding processing jalapeños for the commercial market in 2008” says Siegers.
New Park also is resistant to bacterial leaf spot (BLS). Because diseases are always moving and changing, Siegers says it is critical to offer varieties with resistance to diseases that are currently a threat. “Five years ago mosaic viruses were not prevalent,” Siegers explains. “Now it is downy mildew. A few years ago, it was not an issue; now it is a problem.”

• 4006 — In the bell pepper arena, this experimental variety is approximately three years away from becoming a commercial product. It is resistant to BLS races 1-5 and produces a very uniform, high yielding fruit.

• Polaris — This sweet bell pepper is another up and coming variety. It is an extra-large, dark-green pepper with thick walls. Plants produce heavy, uniform fruits and high yields.

• Sweet Hearts — Siegers points out that these grape tomatoes from Sakata Seed, have a high Brix content and continue to do well in the marketplace.
According to Scholten, there is a new model for grape tomatoes that includes pink, orange, and yellow colored fruit. The foodservice and convenience food industries, he says, are now seeing the benefit of grape tomatoes.

• Grandma’s Garden (experimental # 04-120) — Moving from the small to the large varieties, Scholten and Siegers are pleased with this heirloom variety from D. Palmer Seed Co. This big tomato recently got its name and is larger than D. Palmer’s Mr. Ugly tomato variety. It also is full of flavor, which is something consumers really like.

Heirloom tomatoes may be considered a specialty crop, but anymore, Scholten says most vegetables are considered to be “specialty.” The key, he says, is to take the top picks in a wide trial and then take them to different markets to see where the variety best fits.”

Syngenta Seeds/ROGERS Brand: Staying Focused

Benton Harbo, MI — Peppers, tomatoes, watermelon, cantaloupe, squash, and sweet corn. The list went on and on at Syngenta Seeds/ROGERS Brand’s variety trial in Southwestern Michigan in August.

According to Jim McIntosh, regional sales manager for Syngenta Seeds, it is critical for seed breeders to stay focused as more players are involved in the seed industry today and more variety introductions are entering the marketplace than ever before. “To stay in the game, a good breeder needs to bring in the dealers and provide them with follow up,” he says.

In recent years, McIntosh says variety trials have been geared more toward the economics of production. Growers are looking for varieties that can be planted at different times during the year so they will constantly have a crop to harvest. The idea is to have one ready to harvest after finishing with another.
For example, the pepper varieties Compadre and Taos are available at different times. Compadre can be picked over a long period of time and maintain its size. Taos, a jalapeño, is ready for harvest a week to 10 days before Compadre.

In addition to extending the production season, growers need crops that can withstand disease pressure. What follows are additional highlights from the seed trial.

• Mountain Spring — One of the premiere fresh market tomato varieties for the last 20 years has been Mountain Spring, which was bred by Randy Gardner at North Carolina State University.This variety has high resistance to stip, as well as Fusarium races 1 and 2, and Verticillium. Growers also like it for its size, adds Jonathan Stevenson, area business manager at Syngenta Seeds.

• Mountain Glory — With disease resistance at the focal point, Gardner recently developed another fresh market tomato, Mountain Glory. This tomato is resistant to tomato spotted wilt virus, as well as Fusarium races 1 and 2. It is targeted for the vine ripe market and the Southeast where there are spotted wilt problems, says McIntosh.

• Goldstar — In the squash arena, Syngenta is working on Middle Eastern-type varieties. Goldstar is a newly named variety with powdery mildew and cucumber mosaic virus resistance. It replaces Gentry and produces good yields in the Southeast.

• BC1102 — In addition to disease resistance, flavor is an issue, especially for sweet corn varieties. “Consumers want the creamy corn flavor plus a higher level of sweetness,” says McIntosh. An experimental variety, BC1102 is a triplesweet with 44% of the kernels overlayed with the Super Sweet gene.

• WH1163 — Another experimental, this triplesweet white variety has long ears and has a weak husk package but is easy to pick.
What about melons? Aphrodite and Athena have been industry mainstays, and basically have done what they promised to do: They have a good disease package and bonus size. These two varieties are very popular in the North, says McIntosh.

• RML 408 and RML 409 — Offering additional melon options, these two new experimental varieties are being tested. These varieties hold the same qualities as Aphrodite and Athena with improved plant vigor. They will be commercially available in 2009.

• SP-4 — With seedless watermelon all the rage, Syngenta has a new pollenizer on the market. SP-4 weighs 3 to 6 pounds and is 25% smaller than its predecessor SP-1. Known as a super pollenizer, SP-4 offers intermediate resistance to Fusarium races 0, 1, and 2 and Anthracnose.

• RWT 8173 and RWT 8174 — These two experimental seedless varieties both have deep red flesh with fine texture. 8174 boasts a unique rind pattern and matures two days earlier than industry staple Tri-X 313. To differentiate these varieties from the competition, the rinds of both have dark green skin and a deep red colored flesh, says McIntosh.

This experimental line has been selected because it produces smaller “pips,” which are the fake seeds in seedless watermelon. Consumers, he explains, want pips to be as small as possible. Each variety weighs about 17 pounds.

For complete disease resistance information, please visit www.ROGERSDiseaseCodes.com.