Calidus and Galdius are Bayer Seminis’ winning bets in cucumber. Both are part of the Precisión Pro range, through which the company aims to consolidate and expand its position in south-eastern Spain and the Canary Islands, in a market context that could undergo significant changes in the coming months. This is explained by Francisco Tomillero, Bayer Seminis Development Technician, who notes that the next campaign could see an increase in the area devoted to this crop as a result of the advance of Parvispinus in pepper.
Calidus, robustness for the mid-cycle
Calidus is designed for mid-cycle transplants, from late August to late September, as well as for spring cycles. Its distinguishing feature is plant strength: a powerful root system, very dark green plant colour and robustness that allows it to adapt to different soils, climates, crop management systems and greenhouse structures. According to Tomillero, “it is in the most demanding scenarios that the variety makes the greatest difference” compared to other market references.
The fruit is dark, ribbed, without bottlenecking and with a small pistil end, maintaining uniform length throughout the cycle, with minimal transition between main stem and regrowth. This supports sustained production almost until March. It shares with Galdius the same package of five resistances used by the sector: New Delhi, CGMMV, yellowing, yellow vein, powdery mildew and CMV.
Galdius, earliness for the best-priced months
Galdius is aimed at plantings between 1 and 20 October in Almería and the Costa de Granada. It offers homogeneous and stable fruit quality, and its main advantage is concentrating production in January, February and March, the months when growers usually obtain the best prices. Its high vigour and production level have made it a well-regarded variety among those who have already tested it in the field.
A growing portfolio
Alongside the most recent introductions, Calidus and Galdius, the company has other references such as Aurelius, which has been on the market for two campaigns and remains stable, especially in the Costa de Granada area, and Pontius, whose sales are growing. The latter “is consolidating in the market for fast production cycles due to its resistance package and its very dark fruit colour, since in summer one of the problems is lack of colour, and this does not happen with this variety.”
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In addition, Bayer Seminis maintains other more established varieties in its portfolio, such as SV5047CE and SV0091CE, which have stable demand.
Precisión Pro, the core of communication
Bayer Seminis links these launches to the Precisión Pro range, under the claim “Cultivate precision, harvest confidence”. The proposal, which brings together its cucumber varieties, highlights a range designed to respond to different campaign needs, helping growers choose with confidence the variety best suited to each cycle, management system and production objective.
