Vegetable Breeders Dig Deep To Find Ultimate Food Crop Hat Trick
November 10, 2021 Vegetable plant breeders are out to find selections that can resist the biggest pests and diseases, perform well in all conditions, and taste amazing to consumers. Those elements are not easy to achieve, but the hunger drives breeders to deliver.
Here are some of today’s top vegetable breeders, selected by their seed companies as the ones who are introducing some of the most exciting vegetables the industry has seen.
Marcio Pais De Arruda, Fresh-Market Tomato Breeder, HM.CLAUSE
Arruda and his team have helped develop several new determinate, round, fresh-market tomato varieties that bring Fusarium race 3 resistance (a first to the industry). Fusarium race 3 is a pathogen that is growing in prevalence throughout the production region.
The varieties: ‘HM12579’ and ‘HM12595’
Yaojin Peng, Ph.D., Lettuce Breeder, Vilmorin Mikado USA
Peng created a breakthrough in stabilizing a full bremia-resistant, lightbulb-shaped iceberg. It’s ideal for mechanical harvesting.
The crops: Romaine, Iceberg, and Batavia
Bharath Reddy, Ph.D., Cucumber Breeder, USAgriseeds (VoloAgri)
Reddy leads the cucumber breeding program, recently launched a monecious pickle variety adapted for both open field and staked production. It has superior yield and an impressive disease package (CMV, PRSV, WMV and ZYMV).
The variety: ‘Super Max’
David Wolff, Ph.D., Senior Tomato Breeder, Sakata Seed America
Wolff introduced the new RuBee tomato range of excellent tasting, widely adapted, indeterminate round varieties for roadside and home garden growers. The series includes super early, compact varieties with much improved quality, yield, disease resistance, and flavor.
The varieties: ‘RuBee Dawn’, ‘RuBee Goddess’, ‘RuBee Plus’, and ‘RuBee Prize’
Jason Cavatorta, Ph.D., Research Director & Plant Breeder, Earthwork Seeds
Cavatorta founded Earthwork Seeds, LLC in 2015 with a focus on developing new vegetable varieties with improved quality, high taste, and disease resistance.
The varieties: ‘Goldilocks’ bush golden acorn squash (powdery mildew tolerant, AAS winner), ‘Anna’s Charentais’ (first long shelf life Charentais melon with multiple disease resistances), and ‘Galahad’ determinate, red, round tomato (multiple disease resistances including late blight, AAS winner)
Katharina Wigg, Onion Breeder, Enza Zaden North America
Wigg recently joined Enza Zaden/Vitalis Organic Seeds as an Onion Breeder following completion of her Ph.D. in plant breeding. Wigg is excited to work on a globally important, minimally processed crop and with a company focused on quality and innovation.
The crop: Onions
Raimon Laan, Spinach Breeder, Bejo Seeds
Laan and his team were able to develop downy mildew (races 1 to 19)-resistant spinach hybrids. They continue to compete strongly in the race against peronospora for the baby-leaf spinach industry.
The crop: Spinach
Subscribe Today For
