There was a strong turnout of approximately 70 growers, agronomists, packers and breeders at the recent Duchy College Cornish autumn and winter cauliflower trials. The annual event provides opportunity for cauliflower and brassica growers to view and assess new varieties from all of the major seed houses in one place, as well as bringing together specialists from across the sector for an evening conference.
“We’re delighted to see so many attendees from all over the UK, Ireland and even France at this event, and it shows how valuable these trials are to the future of the industry,” Duchy College Trials Manager, Sophie Rapson, said. “Thanks must go to the seed houses, local horticultural industry, Hutchinsons, and the Duchy College for continuing to support and sponsor this event to ensure that growers can gain this vital information in situ here in Cornwall.”
The cauliflower variety trials have been run by the Duchy College for 32 years, and were once again hosted at Trevarnon Farm near Hayle, with kind permission of Pat Hosking and Nikki and Tim Powell. In total, 73 varieties were on show, featuring autumn, winter and late winter varieties from nine UK and international seed houses. Two planting dates were trialled (16th and 24th July) at standard 36″ x 21″ spacing, with crops assessed for quality and yield as they reached maturity.
Despite a largely dull and wet season, apart from a drier period in August, most autumn varieties still yielded more than 70% class 1 heads. The top performing autumn varieties were Twistique and Eldir, both yielding more than 90% class 1 heads for first and second planting dates.
“We try to ensure that both new introductions and older varieties are included in the trials here, so that we can see how consistent they perform over a period of three or more seasons,” said Sophie.
The weather had proved challenging for winter varieties, with warm, wet conditions in November prompting rapid growth, followed by slow growth in December due to colder and drier conditions, she noted. This resulted in looseness and bracting in many varieties, and some yellowing in more open framed plants.
Top performers among the winter varieties at the time of writing were E40W.822, Koten, and Sassolungo.
“The value that local growers and those from further afield get from having the opportunity to view new cauliflower genetics alongside established varieties cannot be underestimated,” commented Peter Waldock, Hutchinson’s technical support for vegetables. Once again, the trials have helped bring the industry together, showcasing some excellent new performers for future cauliflower plantings.”
Following the field trials, delegates also attended an evening conference in St Ives to hear summaries of the trials data and variety updates from the nine seed houses present. Breeders explained how new genetics from programmes based in the UK and Brittany would help growers improve uniformity, colouring, and packed yields, with harvest windows from October through to May. Sustainability was a key theme during the evening, with talks about the use of non-brassica cover crops and strip tillage.
The evening concluded with an update on crop protection product losses and new, or imminent, arrivals from Zander Foote of Allium and Brassica Agronomy, before Tim Lacey, Hutchinson’s Fresh Produce Manager, gave an insightful presentation into some of the alternative approaches growers might consider to fill looming crop protection gaps.
Tom Rowe, Hutchinson’s local Area Business Manager and agronomist summed up the day: “The outstanding turnout shows just how much the industry values the Cornish trials, the conference, and of course the vital networking that happens along the way.”
