On 23 May Rijk Zwaan South Africa hosted a field day of some of their winter crop varieties at Somerset Farms in Mamogalieskraal, near Brits in the Northwest Province.
The South African office of Rijk Zwaan has been expanding briskly and at the event, Gerhard Smit, commercial manager, explained the company’s long term focus. “Our growth runs parallel to the growth of our partners like plant raisers, growers, processing companies, running all the way to the consumer. We offer strategic assistance to growers in exploring new market avenues and in solving cultivation restrictions through new genetic potential.”
Through continuous research, both internationally and in South Africa, the company is able to offer growers access to genetic potential that opens many avenues, for instance delayed oxidation on the cut surfaces of lettuce through introduction of the Knox gene or improved disease resistance.
High potential for Foxy RZ and Betty RZ beetroot varieties
Nico Vos, carrot and beetroot account manager (right), demonstrated the newest Rijk Zwaan beetroot varieties, Betty RZ and Foxy RZ, both of which are suitable to summer production.
The latter has been bred with double strain Rhizomania resistance. The soilborne disease is prevalent on the soils in the Northwest, where much vegetable production takes place.
These two varieties also have small leaf attachment for ease of processing, with round fruit that fits nicely in a crate during harvesting, allowing bigger volumes to be transported at a time to the packhouse. He noted that the Betty RZ variety has been tremendously successful in Brazil. Nico believes that the potential for Betty RZ and Foxy RZ is very big in South Africa, particularly given their high Brix.
The Tacoma RZ cabbage, which is suited for processing, supermarket pre-pack and bagging, is an excellent variety for shoulder slots, Talha Loonat, Rijk Zwaan brassica specialist (right) told attendants.
A pointed cabbage variety Tourima RZ, with a sweeter taste than round cabbage (making it very good for coleslaw) was also on show, along with the Melrose RZ cauliflower with its good self-cover which keeps the head white and marketable and even kohlrabi, for which the market in South Africa is very small.
Rijk Zwaan currently has trials on clubroot-resistant cauliflower varieties on the go in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
Rijk Zwaan expands disease-resistant lettuce range
Rijk Zwaan is synonymous with lettuce and its concept varieties were there for growers to see and taste: the Salanova range (encompassing Batavia, Butterhead, incised leaf, oak leaf and cos lettuce varieties) for a one-cut strategy in the packhouse, reducing wastage and producing better uniformity of leaves.
The Knox (Knock out oxidation) concept of delayed pinking extends the shelf life of lettuces with an additional two days or more, depending on environmental conditions. The Knox range includes cos, gem, Butterhead, Batavia, incised and oak leaf lettuce varieties.
Rijk Zwaan’s Crunchita variety has met with high demand and the new varieties of crunchy lettuce will be even better, noted Erika Pierce, lettuce crop specialist, with better shape and disease resistance. The crunchy range has the crunchiness of an Iceberg with the sweetness of cos lettuce and is exclusively marketed through Woolworths in South Africa under the trademark Crunchita™.
The company is further developing heat-resistant lettuce varieties for use in sandwiches and burgers, with a continuing strong focus on disease resistance.
The open day and subsequent Rijk Zwaan trials are done at Somerset Farms, a cucumber farm owned by Jannie Fourie and Stewart Colling
“Our partnership with the growers doesn’t expire after delivery of the seed,” Gerhard concluded. “We’re always there to ask: what next?”
Angelique Britz (Fambri Farms), Esrom Musonza (Babaroots), Tian Grobler (Babaroots), Giulio Bovo (Fambri Farms) and Marco Brink (Fambri Farms)
Allan Machakaire, Frans Kerkhoff and Jabu Mnguni, all of McCain Foods South Africa
Steven and Brian Venema of Rosaly Farm
Wessel Venter, Roedolf van der Merwe and Chris Pauley of Eat Your Greens
The open day was also attended by the Crop Science class of the Department of Agriculture at the Tshwane University of Technology
For further information:
Gerhard Smit
Rijk Zwaan South Africa
Tel: +27 61 120 3082
Email: g.smit@rijkzwaan.co.za
https://www.rijkzwaan.co.za/