New spinach, lamb's lettuce and rocket ranges showed

Last month, Voltz Maraîchage and the Pop Vriend teams organized a start-up platform in France (Loire-Atlantique) on plots of land made available for the occasion by Eric Harrouet. The aim was to introduce growers to different varieties of the spinach, lamb's lettuce and rocket ranges. It was a meeting rich in exchanges and discoveries, eagerly awaited by both the seed company and the many growers present for the occasion.

"It was a good way for us to showcase our range and our new varieties. Some 50 growers from western and southwestern France came to see the field performance for themselves, as well as the resistance to diseases and the yield of the varieties we had selected for the occasion. There is a real interest from growers on the market for young shoots, and it is interesting for them to see the technical characteristics of the varieties we offer, to be able to touch the product and visualize it. Our partner Pop Vriend was just as much behind the success of the day as we were. Their teams were on hand to answer all the technical questions from the growers," explains Benjamin Cuenin, communications and events project manager at Graines Voltz.

Producing spinach all year round
Pop Vriend and Voltz Maraîchage, already very active in the spring/autumn niche, highlighted their winter and summer varieties at this meeting. The spinach range currently comprises 15 references, enabling spinach to be grown every day of the year. "This was one of the key points of the day: the growers who wish to do so can now produce spinach all year round."

Producing all year round is possible thanks to the Lignite and PV-1903 varieties (for winter), the Slate, Summerstone, Anatase and PV-1901 (for summer), which are early and late varieties that secure supplies all year round, throughout France. "With its thick, dark-green, well-calibrated leaves, the Spinach 365® range guarantees quality harvests, good shelf-life whatever the season, and a supply adapted to the growers' delivery requirements."

New seed treatment Initio
Pop Vriend also presented the benefits of the Initio biostimulant. "This new seed treatment provides stimulating action and uniformity of emergence, in order to limit losses in the field. Initio also provides a positive benefit when conditions are less than optimal, with improved tolerance to adverse conditions."

New varieties
Among the dozen varieties sown for the occasion, the seeds company highlighted the Odyssey arugula variety, characterized by a "good resistance to mildew and bolting a thick, highly serrated leaf with a dark green color." The variety "ensures very good yields in the spring and summer."

The Match lamb's lettuce variety of Voltz Maraîchage is a "sure value that can be sown all year round." Suitable for all types of cultivation, the plant is compact, dense, "with a good resistance to over-ripening." Specially adapted to fourth-range trays, "it guarantees very high yields."

Voltz Maraîchage also presented two new lamb's lettuce varieties still under development, which will meet two objectives: yield and post-harvest resistance.

Besides the 15 varieties of spinach, 3 of arugula and 8 of lamb's lettuce, Voltz Maraîchage also offers 3 varieties of Red Chard, 2 of Bull's Blood and around 15 diversification varieties.

Photo credit: Voltz Maraîchage