Production and uniformity are the badges of Seminis’ broccoli range
Using just two varieties, the broccoli campaign can be completed in the main producing regions on the Spanish mainland. This is what Seminis is proposing with its new generation of broccoli, characterised above all by the tall-headed materials, with which it leads the way to what will be the new trend in the years to come due to the mechanisation of crops, as has already happened in the U.S.A., where they have the Hancock variety. Other advantages of the new varieties are: very compact, heavy heads, fine grained, without leaves on the stem and great stability in the cycle with harvesting grouped together in 1 or 2 cuttings. Titanium and Shard share all these advantages, and they differ in their transplanting dates. The earlier one is Shard, already on the shelves this year and indicated for the end of August to October, with harvesting from December to January. This is followed by Titanium, with transplanting at the end of October to January and harvesting in winter and the beginning of spring. Luis García Bonillo, head of Brassica development, emphasises that they are varieties for growing both in the Region of Murcia and in northern regions of Spain such as Navarra; with, in the case of Shard, transplanting from the end of June to July and Titanium, from mid-August to the end of September.
Seminis continues working to develop new materials and to improve the ones it already has. Specialities such as Beneforte are worth mentioning, a broccoli with a high glucosinolate content (three times more than other varieties within the same segment) and Bellaverde, a “true broccoli” within the Tenderstem category, from which the auxiliary florets can be used. Bonillo remarks on the fact that “it is not a cross. Its flavour is very mild and everything is eaten.” In Spain it is being marketed more and more, and year after year the sales increase for export to England and to countries in central and northern Europe.
As a new development, they are carrying out trials and tests in some supermarkets with a variety that differs from traditional broccoli. It is a broccoli with loose florets. “It is a line with a less compact head that gives loose florets and it is ideal for trays. In principle, it could be launched onto the market in the 2019/20 campaign.
