Sakata’s important research into produce such as broccoli means that the company is positioned as the leading seed company on the market.
The importance of this leadership is shown by the fact that, more than 35,000 hectares planted, a big part of them are sown with Sakata’s Parthenon variety, which in its day, revolutionised the winter vegetable category due to its high productivity and long shelf life. Today, it is still very difficult to surpass Parthenon.
In addition to the common parameters that any group of scientists are looking for (productivity, uniformity, long life and flavour), the company’s team of geneticists is also keenly aware of all the points relative to the plant’s vegetable health. This is one of the most important point in Sakata’s research.
“At certain times, plant health can be an important problem and we know about this first hand, therefore our research on possible diseases such as alternaria and mildew is essential” states Antonio Ibarra, winter vegetable specialist of Sakata.
Although Parthenon continues to hold onto its leadership, the portfolio of varieties is also worth mentioning, including more than 10 varieties for different showcases. When the producers’ aims concentrate on prolonging the campaign, Sakata has the Naxos variety, which as well as reliably producing throughout the summer, overlaps the window between the end productions of Murcia with the summer productions of highlands.
Tritón is one of the latest varieties that came to light in 2015. The plant is very sturdy and highly suitable for autumn-winter harvests.
Moreover, the Ares variety, to be launched in several months, will cause some important expectations because, according to the company’s executive, “there is nothing like it on the market, as Ares is a very early plant, with a high yield and significant uniformity during harvesting, and these are all elements that made it different and farmers find very interesting.”
Regarding the course of the current campaign, where broccoli, as with other vegetables, has developed early, forcing an early harvest, Ibarra states that “there have been some moments of overproduction and early harvesting, but this fact has not meant a decrease in the produce quality because our winter varieties adapt well to different weather conditions.”
Another of the seed company’s most successful products is bimi, a winter vegetable that is not very well known yet and for which an important surge is expected over the next few years. In the current season, bimi has reached well-known distribution chains, showing the prominence that little, by little, it is taking on the supermarket shelves.
