Fenix warms up its engines by inaugurating 2024 with the new catalog, which is the result of an intense season of research and development on the segments that represent the core business of the Sicilian seed company.
From aromatic plants to vegetables and rootstocks, interesting novelties and increasingly solid confirmations are present in each category, showing the necessary potential to bring real added value to crops that are increasingly complicated to manage due to climatic anomalies and market needs.
Basils: a new barrier against downy mildew Protagonists of an extensive pre-commercial and testing campaign, the varieties belonging to the Prospera Active range open the catalogue confirming themselves as an essential tool for the supply chain of the most famous of Italian aromatic herbs in Europe and in the world.
The new lines have repeatedly proven their ability to resist the constantly more intense attacks of the new breed of basil downy mildew (DM-1), and, similarly to the launch of the first Prospera range, they have earned the favor of the various players in the basil supply chain who are constantly looking for varieties that allow them to achieve good results from a qualitative point of view, high yield and, at the same time, they require a much lower volume of treatments than usual to achieve this result.
It is also worth noting the diversification of the range, which includes both basils suitable for the production of pots with short (LIHI) and medium internodes (MIA and AYA) and long internodes varieties suitable for the fresh cut and for the industry/processing market (NOGA and YAARA), in order to make the new resistance accessible to as many growers as possible.
Tomato: the ToBRFV resistance is on the way
Also, in the tomato segment, which has always been a crop at the center of Fenix's research and development, there are important innovations both for the typology and for the characteristics of the new hybrids with two cherry tomatoes that can boast a real intermediate resistance to the dreadful Tomato Brown Fruit Rugose Virus (ToBRFV) which for several seasons has continued to threaten the quality and yields of farmers relentlessly: FX 2888 F1 and FX 2925 F1.
FX 2888 F1 has been designed for autumn-winter transplants in Sicily for the long cultivation cycle; it has good vigor and a rather balanced leaf apparatus with fruits average weight of 28 grams set on elegant fishbone-shaped rachis. Among the other features that caught the interest of those who have already had the opportunity to carry out the first tests, there is excellent behavior for post-harvest storage and a high brix degree, in addition to the aforementioned intermediate resistance to ToBRFV which is part of a broader package that includes HR: V, F1-2, SM, Ff and For; IR: ToBRFV, TYLCV, Ma, Mj.
FX 2925 F1 shows a high-vigor dark plant with a covering leaf apparatus that makes it particularly suitable for spring-summer transplants in greenhouses where it has demonstrated excellent fruit setting capacity and continuity of production even in conditions of high temperatures, producing intense-bright red fruits with an average weight of about 25 grams arranged on elegant bunches with a robust fishbone shaped rachis. Last but not least, the very high yield. The genetic resistance package of this hybrid includes HR: ToMV, V, F1-2; IR: ToBRFV, TYLCV, Ma, Mi, Mj. These products accompany well-established Fenix varieties such as the very sweet MIELE F1 and DUCI F1, for several years now protagonists of autumn-winter transplants of mini plum tomatoes in the area of south-eastern Sicily, NETTARINO F1, reserved for industry niches focused on high quality, and KENDALL F1, which is confirmed as a real guarantee for plum growers during the summer seasons.
Rootstocks and cucurbits
Interesting innovations are also coming in these segments, first of all, the interspecific tomato hybrid FX 2853 F1 combines excellent affinity with high-vigor for very long cycles and heavy and/or particularly tired soils, following the path of the well-known ROOTPOWER F1, with a package of genetic resistances boasting HR: ToMV, Vd, Fol0-2, For, Pf; IR: Mi. Eventually, the confirmation of the increasingly popular FX 2014 F1 and FX 1468 F1, the first round midi crimson sweet type with an average weight of 6 kg, continues to get interest thanks to the earliness both in terms of transplanting period (under tunnel and open field) and in terms of production, as well as for the always very high brix degree and the good color of pulp and skin; the second mini seedless crimson sweet which stood out for its high yield and good canopy with very sweet fruits and bright red flesh ranging between 2.5 and 3 kg. It is also worth noting the good thickness of the peel, which makes it suitable for stacking and transport.
For more information:
Fenix
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www.fenixseeds.com
