•
PARSNIP TRIALS
•
O
rganised by Vegetable
Consultancy Services (VCS)
at Narborough− near
Swaffham, in Norfolk, by kind
permission of OWWortley − the
Parsnip Variety Open Day featured
a replicated trial with 13 varieties
from; Elsoms, Hazera, Pro-Veg
and Tozer.
Sited in a field of Palace
(Elsoms), the VCS trial was drilled
on 21 April with four, twin line,
rows per bed at a target
population of 38 plants/m2.
Commenting on growing
conditions in 2016, VCS’s trials
manager James Howell said the
season got off to a slow start,
althoughwarmer weather in late
spring had coincidedwith above
average rainfall and a very wet
June.
“Crops drilled in the lighter soils
of East Anglia suffered from
nutrient leaching, which
suppressed crop development,” he
said. “Pre-July there were
concerns about low yields,
however by late July it warmed up
considerably and crops recovered
and yields appear to be back on
track now.”
Commenting on commercial
crops this season so far, Daniel
Fait of Tozer Seeds said the crop
had been small as it has been
slow to bulk up. “As a result,
growers are harvesting smaller
roots and having to harvest
more,” he said. “Crops are now
bulkingwell and there has not
beenmuch canker so far. “
VCS trials data
Data from the VCS trials showed
Javelin and Palace as the highest
gross yielding varieties. However,
James was keen to point out that
marketable yield at pack out is
crucial and is often just 50-55%
due to tight customer
specifications.
“A pack out of 60% is good and
above that is very good,” he said.
“Two varieties stood out in the key
35-50mm category - Vulcan
(Hazera) and Panorama (Elsoms).
Turning to visual appearance /
quality characteristics, Viper and
Palace scoredwell in regard to
shape, while Viper and TZ0943
stood out for skin smoothness.
Vulcan and Viper also scoredwell
for shallow crown depth and
Viper, Victor and TZ0943 for
whiteness. Pearl and Vulcan came
out top for firmness scores and
Panorama and Pearl for
uniformity. The canker scoring
showed PVSL’s Tusk together with
Vulcan and Viper fromHazera as
having less than 5% of roots
affected.
Tozer
From the Tozer portfolio Javelin
remains themarket leader and
according to Daniel Fait still
accounts for 75% of UK parsnip
production. “Highly flexible, it can
23
ViperF1
(20-043)
Latemaincropmaturity, exceptionallygood
shapeand skinfinish
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VictorF1
(20-027)
Earlymaturing variety.
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VulcanF1
(20-029)
Earlymaincropmaturity.
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Parsnips forQualityandYield
+44 (0) 1472371531
+44 (0) 1472371547
HazeraSeedsUKLtd
, J.N.R.C, Rothwell,Market Rasen,
Lincolnshire, UK. LN76DT
PLENTY OF PROMISING NEW PARSNIP
VARIETIES
While Javelin (Tozer) continues to dominate UK parsnip
production, a number of promising introductions −
predominantly fromUK-based breeding programmes −
are takingmarket share and helping extend the UK
season.
by Sue Jupe
VCS trials manager, James Howell.
