Melon, cucumber, strawberry: the Seminis and De Ruiter (Bayer) teams were at SIVAL 2025 to present their new varieties and must-haves.
Acapella, the new melon variety that combines quality and yield
The 2024 season confirmed the good performance of the new Acapella melon variety. "The Acapella has high resistance to Fusarium races 0, 1, and 2 and intermediate resistance to aphids, to the different races of powdery mildew: 1, 2, 3, 3.5, 5 as well as to Cucurbit Yellow Stunting Virus (CYSDV). In addition, the variety showed good resistance to bacterial blight in 2024.
Acapella melon has high resistance: Fom:0,1,2, intermediate resistance: Ag/CYSDV/Px:1,2,3,3.5,5
"In the field, Acapella plants have a powerful root system, making them resistant to many pathogens. Their canopies protect the fruit right up to harvesting, which is made easier by simple harvesting criteria. Acapella has a good grip in cold conditions and produces good sizes. On the shelves, Acapella melons offer an attractive, very uniform presentation and, thanks to their sturdy stem, they also provide long-lasting freshness. Their quality is consistent, which makes them reliable melons," explains Kenza Zanni, marketing & sales coordinator at Bayer.
The Acapella melon meets the challenges of production and the needs of growers, as it offers "production safety with a good disease resistance package, to reduce the frequency of treatments. The variety also produces a good yield, with a secure, uniform grip in the right commercial size to add value to the product. Harvesting costs are optimized, with a product that can wait in the field and has simple, clear harvesting criteria. Finally, the product holds well in the marketing phase in order to satisfy the end customer and therefore maintain the demand."
The variety's taste qualities were also demonstrated during a tasting day organized by the Seminis team in July 2024 in the shop of a Vendée producer. Consumers were able to taste and blindly compare the Acapella variety with a competitor on the market. At the end of the day, the Acapella received 119 votes, compared with 105 for the control variety.
Two other melon varieties will be on trial this season: SVMC4787* in the early tarpaulin segment and SVMC2001* in the open field segment (*on trial, not available for sale).
Gomax completes the cucumber range for summer
Gomax is De Ruiter's new summer cucumber variety. This variety stands out for its high yield potential, offering 10% more production on average than the market's controls. Thanks to its earliness, harvests are maximized while fitting perfectly into a two- or three-crop system.
Like the Georgia and Davida varieties, the Gomax cucumber has intermediate resistance to powdery mildew and CGMMV.
Strawberry trials in France in 2025
"This season, trials will take place in France and will include varieties such as the Malling Centenary and Malling Ace. Malling Centenary is an early/mid-season 'short day' variety with a high percentage of class 1 yield, consistent fruit quality, and good shelf life, making it an excellent choice for retail channels. Malling Ace is a variety that offers a consistent crop throughout the season while maintaining a large medium fruit size, ideal for growers wanting a continuous crop."
The Seminis and De Ruiter teams also took advantage of the 38th edition of SIVAL to (re)present the P0+ early-class onion variety, Lovito, launched in 2023. This variety has the same agronomic qualities as another early class variety, P2. Its strong root system enables rapid development. In addition, the variety has demonstrated tolerance to fusarium and pinkroot disease. At the same time, Bayer is pursuing its long-lasting resistance strategy against ToBRFV via the technique of stacking several resistance genes with different resistance mechanisms, such as Ferreira fleshy tomato with intermediate resistance. The company has announced that it is ready to launch resistant varieties with durable resistance in the main segments before the end of 2025.
For more information:
Bayer – Crop Science
BAYER SEEDS SAS
Mas de Rouzel
Chemin des Canaux
30918 Nîmes
Phone: +33(0)4 66 38 79 80
Bayer SAS / Bayer Seeds SAS
74 rue Gorge de Loup
69009 Lyon
Phone: +33(0)4 72 85 43 21