Vegetable growers and chain partners from all over the world were guests at the Bejo Open Days in Warmenhuizen at the end of September. Visitors there had the chance to get acquainted with the latest Bejo varieties. Ronald Hand, brassica specialist at Bejo, put pointed cabbages in the picture because with Samantha, their new savoy cabbage, they want to boost savoy cabbage.
Ronald shows 4 types of pointed cabbage
Together with customers and relations, Bejo investigates what is going on in the field, in the market and among consumers. These insights form the basis for the development of new and improved vegetable varieties. These should enable growers to harvest healthy and tasty vegetables worldwide. At the demo fields, there was therefore a lot of focus on varieties improved on traits such as disease resistance, storage quality, yield, appearance and taste.
Samantha
Bejo also innovates to make vegetables more attractive to consumers, such as savoy pointed cabbage Samantha. White-pointed cabbage is making headway in acreage, Bejo observes. Consumers like the softer sweet taste and the cabbage is easier to handle on the countertop than a traditional white cabbage. Savoy pointed cabbage is a nice new addition they think. "Savoy is becoming a bit of a forgotten vegetable and we wanted to change that. Samantha is the first savoy pointed cabbage. This compact cabbage variety, with a unique shape and suitable for sealing or packing, is an enrichment for the vegetable shelf. The variety is strong against Xanthomonas and can be grown for harvest in summer and autumn. The cabbage has a nice fresh green colour, is erect and has a uniform size. In addition, Samantha has a fresh dark yellow colour internally," Ronald explains.
Four top pointed cabbages: a new purple pointed cabbage (Bejo 3661), Muraco (for cutting, fresh market and storage), Emiliano and Samantha
Ronald is also proud of the new pointed cabbage variety Emiliano. "A thick-leaved pointed cabbage with unique storage qualities. After CA storage, Emiliano shows high-quality pointed cabbage even until mid-March without a storage tip. Emiliano is insensitive to cracking. With a higher number of growing days compared to other varieties, it can easily absorb growth bumps without growing out of size. The optimum harvest weight for the right proportions is 1.2 kg. The variety is healthy in the field and strong against thrips."
Silvia sprouts
Brussels sprouts continue to be a popular vegetable for which demand is picking up earlier." Silvia is a variety which can be grown the desired B-size of early. Makes length easily. Produces coarse, smooth sprouts to the head of the plant," says Ronald.
"Celeriac Carla with its unique storage quality combined with good foliage health"
A new promising celeriac variety for long storage is Carla. "Carla is very round, has strong skin and is also strong against Septoria. This variety grows high out of the ground with few lateral roots, which improves harvestability. The storability is excellent, making this variety a really reliable storage tuber. Carla has been widely tested for very long storage suitability for several years and proves every year to be among the best storers in the variety range."
This year, Bejo is paying special attention to its extensive range of beet varieties, which, in addition to their growing characteristics, also provide inspiration for new applications for chain partners. Beet acreage is fairly constant, with 400 hectares of conventional and 400 hectares of organic beet. The area under beet for juicing is growing, concentrated beet juice is a popular product among athletes to recover from prolonged efforts.
Rhizo
Rhizo is a beet with intermediate resistance to Rhizomania (IR: BNYVV). "It is a smooth, round beet with a beautiful red internal colour. A wonderful beet for the fresh market due to fine planting."
A row of b, c and d carrots. In the second row is Nagoya
Bejo has a wide range of carrot varieties in all carrot types, suitable for both the fresh market and industry, grown and processed in several climates worldwide, says Ronald. Fresh forest carrots, carrots for processing into slices, or a smooth carrot for presentation on a tray. Disease resistance, foliage quality, production, uniformity, shape, colour, smoothness and storability are examples of varietal characteristics selected by Bejo breeders. Yield after processing, internal colour, flavour and contents are also high priorities in the global variety programme. One new variety is Nagoya. Ronald: "An early, productive, cylindrical, very smooth Nantes. Germinates easily allowing you to sow it thinly. Excellent internal and external colour. Presents remarkably well after washing."
Bejo works closely in onions with De Groot and Slot. In the extensive range of yellow, white and red onions, there are varieties suitable for all day lengths and climates. Of course, resistance to diseases and pests are top priority and Bejo has succeeded in being the first breeding company to market onion varieties with high resistance to powdery mildew, including Hylander.
Hylander is a mid-early variety with high resistance to downy mildew. Beautiful round, uniform onions. Good skin and storage quality. Gives a high yield. Hylander can be stored until May and can be sown in all soils.
Onion specialists Joost Litjens and Hanna Bruinsma show the popular variety Hylander.
Another standout from the joint efforts of Bejo and De Groot en Slot is Hyway, which has become the largest onion variety in the Netherlands, especially in sandy areas. This variety is known for its strong, productive root system, which contributes to its excellent growth potential. The variety is ideal for mid-season cultivation and can be removed from the field before 1 October. In addition, Hyway has exceptional storage quality.
For more information:
Bejo 
Trambaan 1
1749 CZ Warmenhuizen
Tel: +31 (0)226 39 61 62
[email protected]
www.bejo.nl