Red Crispita and Monflor are some of the most innovative developments by Syngenta
Syngenta’s R&D centre in Torre-Pacheco (Murcia) hosted the international open days to show the new developments in lettuce, endives, spinach and brassica.
Customers emphasised the impressive catalogue of Baby Leaf, a segment where the company has positioned itself very well in a few years due to the development of productive, resistant varieties, with good colour and that are very crunchy, which are conserved better in bags thanks to the 3D shape (three dimensional) of their leaves.
Along this same line of quality and production, the Baby Leaf variety Adelita stands out; the new development, Red Crispita, which complements the green Crisipita variety in red, maintaining its characteristics of important plant sturdiness, yield and crunchy texture; or the new Mesclita, with small leaves and very crunchy, which has very good prospects due to its quality and consistency.
In spinach, this year the El Caballo variety was presented, with yield and colour in late autumn and early spring sowing and that completes the production cycle of El Prado, a fast growing winter variety.
In brassica, the company presented Monflor, a multi-floret broccoli that allows harvesting both in florets and in tender stalks and that is differentiated due to its extraordinary sweet flavour and deep green colour throughout the floret, which makes it more attractive for consumers and improves its shelf-life.
Another innovation is Frisetta, a cross between Brussels sprouts and kale that is presented in green or purple and can be eaten both raw and cooked. It is a different variety that is still being developed and has awoken the interest of large retailers due to its versatility of use and cooking possibilities.
In lettuces, within the Mini Romaine segment, Starena stands out (excellent size in cold conditions and perfectly shaped) and Mandelina, which complements the range for spring harvesting with very good behaviour against tip burn. Finally, in Iceberg, Waikiki was presented, for spring-summer crops, which stands out due to its flexibility in the fields, uniformity, productivity and tolerance to internal “tip burn”.
