The Seminis Brassica Innovation days, which take place at Kirton Holme on the 12th and 13th October, will showcase the expanded range of Curdivex cauliflowers, hourly demonstrations of broccoli being machine harvested and introduce growers to Harvest Planner, the crop development platform that uses remote sensing to help with harvest scheduling.
For the fourth year running, the event will also host the Bayer crop protection team meaning visitors will be able to see the latest brassica varieties alongside future and present fungicide and insecticide innovations on the same site.
Central to the brassica crop plots will be the Seminis range of High-Rise broccoli developed specifically to suit machine harvesting. Its suitability to this task will be demonstrated by regular displays involving a commercially available machine. The Seminis range of broccoli varieties will also feature new introductions suited to the mid-summer conditions.
“We are pleased to be introducing new broccoli varieties with improved tolerance to the summer stresses of heat and drought to suit the mid-July to late August. These types will complement those suited to the early summer period of late May to early July and from September until the end of the season in early November,” said Sharon MacGregor, Seminis open field UK and Nordics sales manager.
In cauliflower, Seminis continues to expand the Curdivex portfolio of varieties. These types, which feature a white curd with less curd cover, retain their white colour for longer, giving better quality.
“The new varieties introduced for the 2023 season extend the season to cover what is the main summer production period of late May until late October helping growers to better manage production and harvest schedules,” says Mrs MacGregor.
A new service that is likely to be of strong appeal to growers is Harvest Planner, a crop harvesting prediction tool being developed in the Netherlands for use across Europe.
“Harvest Planner combines the use of in-field sensors and historical field data to make accurate crop assessments and inform harvest scheduling. It will be trialled on a pilot basis in the UK during 2023 and the program developer will be in attendance during the open days to hear from growers what capabilities they like to see incorporated,” says Mrs MacGregor.
The crop protection trials will highlight the performance of the biological insecticide Flipper (fatty acids C7-C20) in a programme alongside Movento (spirotetramat) while the disease protection delivered by Rudis (prothioconazole) and Nativo (trifloxystrobin + tebuconazole). A pipeline SDHI fungicide for which Bayer hopes to receive regulatory authorisation in 2023 will also be included in the plots.
For more information click here.