This year, Bayer is back in style with its Melon & Watermelon Week. The event is celebrating its tenth anniversary with an opening party that will kick off the field days. The visits will be carried out between the last week of June and the first week of July at its installations in Cartagena and, for the first time, they will have as many melons as watermelons on the demonstration fields. A selection where they will show the main new developments from their global portfolio with the Seminis brand.
In this campaign, the spotlight continues to play on Manchester, its latest incorporation in yellow melons. The variety continues the Chester line and it is aimed at open air crops (Murcia and Castilla-La Mancha). In its second commercial year, its prospects are very high due to the good response by producers, marketers and the retail sector. All due to its organoleptic qualities and the advantages involved in its resistances to powdery mildew and aphids.
At the field days, two new pre-commercial varieties will be on show. One is SVMG 1006, a Galia that completes the Cyro Line in extra-early cycle in open air crops in Murcia. It meets the requirements of larger size for earlier transplants in Murcia. SVMG 1006 has all the characteristics of Cyro line, but with added resistances to powdery mildew and aphids. The transplants range from the 20th of February to the 10th of March, according to José Guirado, Head of Melon Development.
They are also launching the orange-fleshed Cantaloupe SVMC 1524, which is resistant to powdery mildew and aphids. This is a Sugarlup for medium cycle in Murcia (20th of March to the 15th of April).
A return to watermelons
Fenway and Romalinda have been on the market for many years on the Spanish mainland, and they will soon have new developments to accompany them. After a long time without introducing any new watermelon materials, Bayer has resumed this line and is increasing its investment.
This year they are testing out a striped watermelon for export in the three production regions. The strong points from its R&D are its hardiness and ease of handling for producers and the fact that they are profitable and productive varieties. “We are clear that if a variety is not profitable for the producers, it is not sustainable.” All of this without forgetting the flavour aspect, to ensure it satisfies consumers organoleptically, in addition to the post-harvest, which is essential in the distribution.
