"Despite the hail storm we managed to grow 310 pieces per m2"

Village Farms in Monahans (Texas) produced 310 cucumbers per m2 with the variety Verdon RZ from Dutch-based breeding company Rijk Zwaan in 2017. Village Farms has been growing Verdon as standard variety for more than 3 years now. The crops in the 12 ha greenhouses are successfully managed by Diego Camacho and Chris Valera.

Diego Camacho (left) and Chris Valera (right)

“In 2017 we produced over 310 pieces per m2, even though we lost one ha due to a hail storm. Over 80% of the yield were mediums of 12.5 inches”, says Camacho. “Those are excellent results. For 2018 we will continue with Verdon and we will double the area of cucumbers. Our new goal is to reach 330 pieces per m2.”

Village Farms makes use of so called “GATES greenhouses” in Monahans. They work with a cooling system in the summer and artificial light in the winter. There is an energy screen and a blackout screen in the greenhouse. The high wire crop cycles last 15 weeks, so they grow 3.5 crops per year. In the summer they use 4.2 plants per m2 and in the winter they use 3.1 plants per m2.

“I have been growing cucumbers in Village Farms for over 3 years now, trialing different varieties”, Camacho explains. “The production of Verdon RZ is significantly higher than that of other varieties. It also has a better shelf life and a high tolerance against Cucumber Mosaic Virus (CMV). Verdon has been the best tasting cucumber so far and we have received nothing but positive feedback from our customers.”

For more information:
Rijk Zwaan
info@rijkzwaan.com
www.rijkzwaan.com

Village Farms
www.villagefarms.com