Very good calibre from the first setting and fantastic yield. These are the two premises on which the ‘R€NPIMIENTO’ (Yield + Pepper in Spanish) California pepper range from Top Seeds is based.
The seed company has intensified its promotion efforts since the beginning of the campaign to publicise the advantages of its latest launches, and there is a very positive response from farmers.
Melchor Guzmán, a Sales Technician from Top Seeds Ibérica, talked to Fruit Today about the strong points of the new varieties: the red California peppers Arkane, Varane and the yellow pepper, Sadoc.
Arkane:
This red California pepper with resistance to powdery mildew is aimed at medium transplants and it is particularly recommended for the second fortnight of July. As with the rest of the varieties from the company’s catalogue, Arkane has a strong root system. Its good adaptation to heavy soils, water with high conductivity and cold regions should also be highlighted, along with its very good behaviour in eastern Almeria.
Its plant is vigorous, balanced, well-ventilated and open and this aids pest control, aeration and the ripening of fruit.
Melchor Guzmán underscores the quality of its fruit from the very beginning, square, with GG-G calibre, homogeneity and high production. The fruit range from a deep green colour to bright red, and they have no micro-cracking problems.
Varane:
As with Arkane, it incorporates resistance to powdery mildew, but in this case it is focused on transplants from the end of June to the first fortnight in July, depending on the region and the handling.
Its plant has shorter internodes than Arkane; it is highly productive, with very square fruit, high consistency and quality until the end of the season. “It develops a large number of GG-G fruit from the very start, with suitable control over shading and dampness.”
Sadoc:
The yellow California pepper can withstand powdery mildew, and it is for transplants in the second fortnight of July. Its plant, ventilated and open, produces excellent quality fruit from the beginning of the season and, particularly, at the end. It sets with great ease and it maintains a homogeneous calibre throughout the crop. Regarding the fruit, the quality and firmness stand out, along with its bright yellow colour and its conservation while on the plant.
Classics that never fail
In addition to these new developments, Guzmán recalls other long-standing varieties from the portfolio, Top Arnon and Galiano, which are behaving very well in the fields this campaign. “They have very high productions for the present dates (January). We are happy to hear that clients are opting for our more traditional varieties, which they know well, wishing to increase their surface area. And the fact is that in the end what really counts is the ‘R€NPIMIENTO’.
Present in Berlin
From the 7th to the 9th of February, Top Seeds will be present at the trade fair Fruit Logistica in Hall 1.2, B-31, with its own stand on which it will show a large part of its overall portfolio.
This offer includes varieties from the improvement programme for cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes and broccoli, its latest launch. At last year’s edition of the German fair, they showed some of the materials that they have in tomatoes with intermediate resistance (IR) to ToBRFV, as well as rootstock with IR. In this way, they continue working to provide solutions to the most important problem that this crop has at present globally.
