Since May, growers have begun mapping out their plans for the upcoming campaign. As the weeks progress, a clearer picture will emerge, along with the first forecasts for the new brassica season, says José Guirado, Market Development Manager for Brassicas Iberia at Bayer, speaking to Fruit Today.
For the 2025/26 season, the Bayer team is maintaining its portfolio of broccoli and cauliflower varieties under the Seminis brand. In broccoli, the focus is on high-head types designed for mechanical harvesting under the HighRise concept. For cauliflower, the Curdivex line continues to expand, and further growth is expected in traditional varieties.
Tradition meets innovation
Although it’s been on the market for over a decade, SV5864AC remains Bayer’s best-selling cauliflower and leads sales in Spain. Known for its robustness and a planting window of up to four months, it offers long-lasting stability and excellent uniformity in quality—key attributes in a context of climate instability and rising temperatures.
RELATED NEWS: Bayer expands Its portfolio with Bultaco, Barreiros, and Brasero
Alongside this traditional cauliflower, Bayer introduced the Curdivex line years ago, including Marmorex and Suertex, which retain their white colour better than other market options—even when exposed to sunlight. Both varieties have very stable cycles and perform well even when chill hours are limited. This gives growers more flexibility during harvest and advantages in terms of commercialisation and distribution.
100% high-head
In the broccoli market, Bayer has focused on developing high-head varieties for mechanical harvesting. Its HighRise concept has supported the development of mechanised harvesting for processing crops, in parallel with prototype harvesting machinery. The Andersia and Titanium varieties have been gaining acreage in the Ebro Valley and Extremadura for the past two years.
Like the cauliflower lines, these varieties have very stable cycles. They also stand out for their harvest uniformity, clean stems, and high productivity.
