A new melon and watermelon season is just around the corner for Almeria's greenhouses. Thus, producers must decide in the coming weeks which varieties they're going to opt for to achieve maximum quality, production, and profitability. Semillas Fitó, one of the world's leading companies in R&D in melon and watermelon varieties, has always worked hand in hand with Almeria producers to improve and extend its catalog year after year, offering new varieties that add value in the greenhouse and the entire agri-food chain.
For this next season in Almería, Semillas Fitó will present new products in almost all the segments. In the piel de sapo segment, for example, the new Callejón variety stands out thanks to its resistance to powdery mildew and aphids. In addition, its internal quality is highly appreciated by consumers and brand owners. Callejón is recommended for transplants in Almería's greenhouses from February 10 to mid-March. To add value to the chain, it is best to respond to market demands and Callejón does this by offering excellent plant health, an ideal size (3-4 kg), a golden external color and beautiful texture, consistent flesh, great flavor, high Brix degrees, homogeneity in production, and good post-harvest.
In the cantaloup segment, Semillas Fitó already has a consolidated variety on the market: Solmarín. This season they are launching an important new variety to the market, Claudio, a cantaloup resistant to powdery mildew and aphids, which could be one of the stars of the market in the coming years. Claudio is a variety for transplantation from February 15 to March 15. It has excellent plant health and stands out for its enormous production precocity, reaching the market much earlier than competing varieties. Its fruits have high internal quality, great flavor, and Brix degrees. This variety has a very good postharvest even with the high temperatures of the greenhouse during June.
In yellow melon, the potential of Indurain, presented last season, has been confirmed and it continues to be the king of the segment due to its earliness, production, and fruit quality. In addition, Indurain has positioned itself as a variety that offers producers a high resistance package, with a strong root system, giving rise to homogeneous fruit in size and shape with an average of 1.4 and 1.8 kilos. Its white meat has allowed Indurain to be a perfect choice for the fresh and fourth-range markets, as it has a clean exterior and high internal quality; making it another example of added value for the entire chain.
Semillas Fitó continues to lead Almería's Galia segment with the Grazalema and Mojácar varieties, which cover the region's entire transplant cycle. The two varieties offer a resistance package that includes resistance to powdery mildew and aphids. They have great flavor and no post-harvest brown spots on the skin, as demanded by the chain.
In watermelon, the company is also presenting two novelties in Almeria this season: Taylor and Leiva. Taylor is a triploid striped watermelon that stands out for its high production, homogeneous, good-sized fruit, small pistil closure, high internal quality, great flavor, high Brix degrees, and striking red flesh color.
Finally, Leiva is a pollinator that yields medium-sized fruits (3kg) with very small black micro-seeds. It stands out because of its long flowering time with the triploid variety, which means the pollen of the Leiva flower coincides with the female flower of the triploid watermelon for more days. This is important to achieve higher production and reduce the number of non-commercial fruits. In addition, Leiva has great internal quality, red-colored meat, high Brix degrees (far superior to competing varieties), and very good flavor.
For more information:
Semillas Fitó
Selva de Mar 111
08019 Barcelona, Spain
Tel.: 93 303 63 60
Fax: 93 303 63 73
Email: [email protected]
www.semillasfito.es