Sweet corn varieties are being trialed in Queensland; these could turn out bring some color into the market. The company behind the trials of the Cabo and Sovereign varieties, both of which are bicolor and new to Australia, is Syngenta Seeds.
Leith Plevey is the product development specialist for large seeded vegetables and cucurbits there. According to him, the Australian sweet corn market is currently dominated by yellow varieties.
He told queenslandcountrylife.com.au: "Certainly from our perspective it's something we're pretty excited about. It's not just appealing for its appearance but there's also a real sweetness and the tenderness of the kernels. The market in Australia would be at least 95 per cent yellow and in terms of fresh product you can find at the shops, it's almost exclusively yellow. The bicolor varieties we do have are very similar to our yellow varieties in terms of taste."
Trials started early this year in the Lockyer Valley and at Fassifern with more trials now taking place at Bowen and in the Burdekin. Plevey said the trials had achieved solid results since the beginning of the trials a few months ago. "They've performed really well, they've filled out their cob and have thrived, particularly in the hot conditions we've had. Then in the last couple of weeks we've had some really wet weather and it's done well through those conditions too."