De Ruiter Seeds is one of the leading breeders for the high tech greenhouse industry. The company has worked hard on it's breeding program over the past years and lately they have made many great varieties available for the growers that are looking for production, quality, taste and yield. We spoke with De Ruiter's Thijs Peekstok, about the major development in tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers.
Tomatoes
After numerous investments in research and development, De Ruiter® is seeing promising hybrids. The Foronti Beef tomato hybrid was launched autumn 2013, and performed really well under intense light, and also has Oidium resistance. “Last season, because of the mild summer, we didn’t see its full potential in all areas” affirms Thijs Peektstok, of De Ruiter.
The same could be said about Merlice, in the segment of tomatoes on the vine, compared to Komeett. “In some parts of North America, the latter did not outperform the former, where there was more light and high temperatures, it managed to do better. This is also the reason why Merlice is doing so well in Mexico.”
The first results are also becoming visible in the snacking tomato segment. “It is in this category that we most see the needs of growers in our region differ from those of growers in other world areas.”
Rootstock
In rootstocks, De Ruiter has DR0138TX, which is only commercially available in North America . This rootstock was specifically developed for North America, “providing growers a lot of balance and crop endurance,” says Thijs.Another rootstock, which has been commercially available for a year, is DRO141TX. “Also in regards to rootstocks; the potential of DR0141TX was only obvious in areas which had more light and heat,” states Thijs.
He explains that “De Ruiter has a dedicated North American breeding program for all our greenhouse crops, so we don’t always follow the trends from other world areas, like the Netherlands, although we do, of course, connect with them. That ensures that we develop varieties that are truly suitable to our region.”
De Ruiter is currently testing several promising TOV and Beef pre-commercial hybrids. “We have changed our focus to rely not only on yield, but also other factors such as better taste and shelf life. Taste will play a key role.”
Cucumbers:
The very first hybrid that De Ruiter ever launched was a cucumber. Over the last few years, not many new varieties have been introduced, but with the increased investments in the pipeline some very promising pre-commercial material is appearing.“We are currently testing three pre-commercial materials, which are anticipated to be launched this year. So as with tomatoes, the focus used to be mostly on yield, but now plenty of attention goes to improving quality, including aspects like shape, length, colour and shelf life,” explains Thijs Peektstok.
High wire
De Ruiter® is still testing with umbrella crops, although currently concentrating as well on high-wire cultivation, with high light and low light segments, corresponding to the winter and summer productions. The company has varieties coming out for both.“Despite that many growers still favour the umbrella concept, high-wire still makes sense in certain areas”, said Thijs Peektsok. “That is why we focus on developing varieties for both systems.”
He assures that “on our new hybrids, we have a higher percentage of medium fruits, which eventually have potential to increase the growers’ revenue.”
Bell peppers
In the orange bell pepper segment, De Ruiter launched two new varieties last summer: DR0713PB and DR0719PB. The former was developed for the flow pack market and the latter for the bulk market. Thijs Peekstok explains that both varieties have been adopted by growers.
Overall, Thijs says that growers have been happy with their performance, as a great focus has been put on improving the quality of the fruits while at the same time increasing yield potential.
“What we have done with orange bell peppers, we are trying to transfer to yellow and red bell peppers. In both we are starting to see interesting material in the pre-commercial stage.”
De Ruiter® is a registered trademark of Monsanto Invest B.V.
If you would like to obtain more information about De Ruiter varieties, please contact:
De Ruiter Seeds
Thijs Peekstok (e-mail)
www.deruiterseeds.com