France: New varieties shown at Indoor Lettuce Discovery Day

Last Thursday, March 29, lettuce professionals met for the Indoor Lettuce Discovery Day, organized at the Gautier headquarters in Eyragues. The event was in two parts: a visit of the trial platforms followed by a technical conference on the bioaggressors.

The afternoon began with a visit to the tunnels at the Gautier’s site, where visitors could discover varietal recommendations for the 2018/2019 campaign. The innovations in the Gautier range cover all planting slots and provide an integral Bremia coverage, an essential criterion for securing crops. Among these novelties, the visitors’ interest was caught by 4 new Butterhead varieties: A1215, a variety with a beautiful volume well suited for the early and late crop production.

A1241 and A1245 are two complementary varieties designed for the fresh market and the processing industry, in the flagship slot of fall and spring. For the winter slot, A1234, a plant with an attractive presentation with a semi-closed head for the fresh market.

Gautier Seeds also launched a new light green Batavia H1265 with excellent base quality for fall/spring season. A new variety that expands the Batavia range alongside references such as Yeti and Nobilis. Gautier developed G1246 a new rougette that looks highly promising, thanks to a beautiful intense and uniform red color.

The event continued with a technical conference on the topic of bioaggressors, a major concern for producers in France.

Justine Garnodier from CTIFL (Technical Interprofessional Center for Fruits & Vegetables) presented a focus on Fusarium, a growing threat especially in the Côte d'Azur and Rhône Alpes areas, and raised producers awareness of the necessity of feedback in order to pursue the development of the disease. Then Claire Goillon from APREL (Provencal Association for Research and Vegetable Experimentation) exposed the works carried out on lettuce protection in the framework of projects such as LILLA, LactuMEL, GEDUBAT and GEDUNEM, dealing with the reduction of inputs and the management of root-knot nematodes. In the end, the objective is to tend to a balanced and sustainable system.

This theme on bioaggressors and the expertise provided by CTIFL and APREL were highly appreciated by the attendees.

This Discovery Day remains a major event to close the indoor lettuce season and reflects the desire of Gautier Seeds to always be at the cutting edge of innovation, in order to make the work of a seed producer useful to everyone.

For more information:
Gautier Seeds
www.gautiersemences.com