•
POP VRIENDDUTCH TRIALS
•
THE
VEGETABLE
FARMER •
JANUARY 2017
S
tartingwith hybrid Swiss
chard, and a breeding
programme that only
started in 2012, the company is
not just looking to improve and
expand their current range of F1
hybrids with varieties that
provide better continuality
throughout the season from the
end of April to early November
(to dovetail into the Spanish
season), but also to improve
seed production.
To briefly recap, F1 varieties
Ampera and Volt were the two
first generation varieties, both of
which are now fully commercial.
Readers may recall the company
previewed the second generation
varieties, Fluence and Ion, at
their Dutch Open days a year
ago. Both have since been
trialled successfully in the UK
where they performedwell
throughout the season and
showed good tolerance during
the colder than normal start.
“They also showed less leaf
discoloration because of thrips,
and seem to have strong
intermediate resistance against
downy mildew,” says account
manager Alec Roberts of UK
distributor Tozer Seeds. He
reckons the latter is interesting.
“Mildew could be a problem for
the future in Swiss chard andwe
seem to have 3-4 varieties that
offer good intermediate
resistance.”
And this brings us to the
company’s third generation
Swiss chard varieties whichwere
on display at this year’s Open
Days. Numbered as PV 9025 and
PV 9026, Mr Roberts reckons the
two could eventually succeed
Fluence and Ion. “They seem to
keep cleaner, andwe are not
only hopeful of more
(intermediate) resistance against
mildew, but alsomore disease
tolerance.” Seed is currently
scarce, but they have had a play
with the new varieties in the UK
this season. The varieties will be
available for larger commercial
trials in 2017.
There is not much of amarket
for green Swiss chard in the UK,
something Tozer Seeds is looking
to change with a new variety
called Prius (PV 9015). Tasting
the same as a red variety, British
growers that have trialled it for
the first time this year have
confirmed Prius produces a good
clean leaf, which appears to be
tolerant to diseases. Sufficient
seed is available for a number of
commercial-scale trials for next
year. “Prius looks promising but
we have to see if we can create a
market for a green Swiss chard,”
comments Mr Roberts.
Spinach is the third biggest
crop for Tozer Seeds in the UK
behind parsnips and celery. Two
years ago Pop Vriend proudly
announced that the raft of new
material on display in Andijk
offered a full mildew resistance
package. “We continue to do
well with spinachwith improved
1-15s and are developing 1-16s.
We have a lot of new varieties
for the near andmid-term
future.”
PV 1199 is one of them.
Performingwell in trials, the
variety was out in reasonable
commercial quantities this
season. Now named as Alameda,
the dark green variety is suitable
for early and very late
production. “This year has been
a difficult one but Alamada is
suitable for sowing during the
first three weeks of March and in
mid-September,” says Mr
Roberts.
Last but not least, on the
spinach front, Pop Vriend has
developed four fast-growing
semi-Savoy types offering 1-15
mildew resistance. The list
includes Maya (PV 1192), Aztec
(PV 1200) and Sioux (PV 1202),
and the newest member of the
range Apache (PV 1190).
Attributes of all four varieties
include a high production of nice
green leaves.
Expandingportfolio
Pop Vriend’s main crops are
spinach and beans, and on the
French bean front Mr Roberts
reckons there is a huge potential
in the UK to provide consumers
with an alternative tomore
traditional bean types.
“We see the bean industry
movingmore towards French
beans at the expense of runner
and broad beans. The bigmarket
is likely to be with dark medium-
sized French beans, but we also
see possibilities with yellow
beans and both smaller and
larger green French beans. We
are looking to improve bean
types, colour, disease
resistance, and
taste,” he continues,
“and have lots of
varieties and some
exciting new stuff in
the pipeline.”
Pop Vriend is not
only seeking to
consolidate its
positionwith spinach
and beans, but also
expand its portfolio
with sweetcorn,
beetroot and carrots.
It is only recently
that Pop Vriend
started to breed
hybrid beetroot but already Mr
Roberts believes they have some
excitingmaterial. Some of it was
trialled in the UK this season and
the results look promising. “We
are very excited about some of
the newest varieties, some of
which offer a great dark colour.”
On display for the first time at
last year’s Open Days, carrots
were back again this year but on
amuch larger scale. The
breeding programme is still at an
early stage, and they are still at
the crossing stage and there is
not yet any seed for British
growers to trial.
However, it’s quite astonishing
to see how fast the breeding
programme is progressing. Eight
hybrids were trialled in the
Netherlands this year, and a
range of carrots will be available
for the first UK trials next season.
Mr Roberts is very excited
about the possibilities with
carrots and confidently expects
developments to go quickly.
“There will be a lot more to see
at the Dutch Open days next
year,” he says.
32
AN EXPANDING PORTFOLIO OF NEW
CROPS FOR POP VRIEND
New spinach and Swiss chards headed the variety news at
Pop Vriend’s Dutch Open Days at Andijk, but there were
also plenty of new crops for visitors to see.
by Steven Vale
Account manager Alec Roberts of
Tozer Seeds is keen to see if there is
amarket in the UK for Prius, a green
Swiss chard.
Pop Vriend trialled eight carrot
hybrids this year, some of whichwill
be available for the first UK trials
next season.
Tozer Seeds sees possibilities in the
UK for its wide range of French
beans, which includes several yellow
varieties.
Alameda is a new dark green spinach suitable for
early and very late production.
