Syngenta’s piel de sapo melon variety brings calibre, internal quality and a good post-harvest with harvesting until the end of September.
The new pre-commercial variety of piel de sapo melon from Syngenta, Cencibel, has had very good results in the melon demonstration plots that the company has in Ciudad Real. For medium and late planting it has triple resistance and excellent plant health and by mid- September it was giving very good-sized fruit with high internal quality and an excellent post-harvest.
Juan Carlos Mateos, a piel de sapo melon producer and marketer in the Peñarroya cooperative in La Mancha and Jorge Ribes, head of sales at Syngenta Semillas, are convinced that it is a variety that could be very important in this segment.
For Mateos, Cencibel adapts to the market demands: “it has a very healthy, hardy plant, with a sufficient sized melon of 3-4 kg (that may be bagged) and some larger fruits and it has good colour, clean, fine grooving, good internal quality with sufficient Brix and good eating. It is promising for future campaigns.”
Jorge Ribes adds: “Cencibel has been developed within Syngenta’s new improvement programme in piel de sapo melon, incorporating varieties with a complete package of resistances to virus and diseases (all the types of powdery mildew, intermediate resistance to aphids and resistance to two types of fusarium) and it maintains our brand’s traditional quality. In this case, we were looking to guarantee calibre in medium and late sowing, where a very hardy plant is needed, which sets in very hot conditions and can end the cycle filling the melon well.”
Its plant is strong until the end of the cycle, it covers the melons well and they are not damaged by excessive heat. It is indicated for planting from the 15th of May to the end of the campaign in La Mancha and it can be harvested until the end of September. The fruit have a perfect size, with resistant skin (very important for late cycle), a nice green colour with a golden background, fine grooving, very good internal quality and crunchy, sweet flesh.
