On November 6th, De Ruiter organized a Merlice event for its Dutch growers. The meeting was for growers to exchange tips on how to get more results out of the variety. Afterwards there was a rib-experience on the river Meuse.
Duco de Ruiter served as chairman. As the afternoon kicked off, he introduced some of his colleagues. For Jack Endhoven, this was his first such event at De Ruiter. Jack has just started as a regional account manager.
Henk Kalkman was the first speaker. Henk is the tomato advisor at the DLV Plant. In 2012, Merlice was marketed under the name 7812. Since its introduction, the results have steadily improved. According to Henk though, there are more opportunities:
- The strength of this variety can be converted into speed and generativity. The progress of this breed is a certainty. The early production depends on speed.
- The average fruit weight varies. It can be high at the end of the season.
- Merlice has a high cooling capacity; in extreme hot conditions, there is no shrinkage and there are no signs of weak leaves. Merlice easily retains LAI. On the other hand, leaf surface is so large that it is labour intensive in order to take care of the crop.
- Based on the above properties of Merlice, Henk Kalkman had some cultivation tips.
Martin Bouwman, Duco de Ruiter and Vincent van Winden
The second speaker was Nico van Vliet, now chain manager at De Ruiter. He indicated that the tomato is consumed at various meals during the day, especially the vine tomato.
Henk Kalkman, Jos van Adrichem and Koen Lauwerysen
In the eyes of the consumer, the Merlice tomato appears to have the most added value (Value for Money). Nico ended with the words: "We can all be proud of Merlice”.
Bas van Lienden and Jan van Marrewijk
At the end of the day, the growers sped across the water in a speedboat, representing Merlice's speed.
Loek van Adrichem, Roel Beyns, Jaap Noordam, Ed Zwinkels and Stefan Oussoren
More information:
De Ruiter Seeds
ducoderuiter@monsanto.com