On December 10, 2014, vegetable growers from around the Southeastern U.S. gathered at the Seminis® research station in Felda, Florida for a close look at the latest in the Seminis product portfolio.

“We invited area growers to take a close look at recently commercialized products as well as pre-commercial products, hear from experts and provide us with valuable feedback,” explained Leo Camelo, Seminis Southeastern Sales Lead. “Ultimately, this allows us to tailor our products to fit our customers’ needs.”

On display were over one hundred commercial and pre-commercial varieties of eight key regional crops: sweet corn, watermelon, cucumbers, sweet peppers, specialty peppers, squash, tomato and garden beans. Some of the product highlights included:     

SV0241WA is a high-quality 45/60 count watermelon triploid hybrid with an average of 3-4 fruits set per plant with outstanding fruit uniformity, fruit shape, and a high quality interior with crisp flesh. With a consistent average Brix sugar content level of 11 degrees or higher, SV0241WA has shown to have exceptional eating quality across all testing locations in the U.S. In addition, it has high resistance1 to Anthracnose and intermediate resistance2 to Fusarium wilt race 1.

“Because SV0241WA is a little smaller than a traditional watermelon, we think this type of watermelon is going to become more and more popular as people are looking for something more convenient that takes up less space in the refrigerator,” explained Seminis Watermelon Breeder Jerome Bernier, who primarily breeds for seedless watermelon varieties for the United States and Mexico.In the 36-45 count range is SV8298WA3 watermelon hybrid. It has a great plant that offers excellent fruit coverage, has the potential to set a very high number of 36-45 count fruit and has traits that help SV8298WA withstand many types of field-related stress. “This is one of the most farmer-friendly watermelons that both looks and cuts great,” explained Bernier.

In the last two years, Seminis has made an improvement over its existing Downy mildew resistant cucumbers. In addition to intermediate resistance to Downy mildew, Performance Series® SV4220CS cucumber also touts multivirus resistance. This new Seminis cucumber hybrid has a moderately vigorous plant, produces straight, smooth, dark green high-quality fruit even in first harvests.

With several races of Bacterial leaf spot present in the area, it was clear which sweet pepper varieties in the field boasted what Seminis calls X10R® technology. For example, Antebellum3, a precommercial green to red blocky sweet pepper hybrid, has intermediate resistance2 to Bacterial leaf spot races 0- 10 and produces quality jumbo fruit.

The Dixie Red hybrid tomato that has larger fruit, better disease resistance and higher yield potentials compared to Florida 47 R hybrid tomato seed. It has high resistance1 to Tomato spotted wilt virus, Alternaria stem canker, Fusarium wilt, Gray leaf spot and Verticillium wilt. Dixie Red matures in approximately 87 days, has intermediate resistance2 to Root-knot nematodes, has hot set capability, and can be harvested green or red and still maintain firmness.

Sybaris is a straight, medium-sized, deep green, bean with an average 5.6 inch length, very good uniformity and exceptional quality. Generally, its pods set high in the plant and off the soil surface. With a 56 day relative maturity and approximate sieve size distribution of 100% sieve size 3-4, Sybaris has high resistance1 to Bean common mosaic virus and intermediate resistance2 to Rust. This bean is a great addition to any portfolio in the fresh or processing markets.

Over lunch, attendees heard from Amy Philpott from Watson Green LLC about crisis management recall planning in the produce industry. “Overall the event was a great success,” explained Camelo. “The conversations between customers and Seminis representatives indicated a high-level of excitement about the Seminis Southeastern U.S. portfolio and pipeline.”