News

Rijk Zwaan is taking innovation to new heights in snack cucumbers by focusing on high wire varieties with the combination of Powdery Mildew (PM) and Cucumber Green Mottled Mosaic Virus (CGMMV) resistance. This is the latest development in the company’s ever-growing range of flavoursome snack cucumbers in various sizes and colours, all with the best possible resistances to help growers harvest a healthy crop.

Rijk Zwaan is pleased to announce the upcoming edition of its annual Global Melon and Watermelon Event. The vegetable breeder’s beautiful melon and watermelon varieties will be on display at Rijk Zwaan’s Experimentation and Development Center (CED La Palma) in Cartagena, Murcia (Spain) from 4-12 July.

Fusarium is a major threat in lettuce. The fungus can damage the lettuce via the root system in both protected and open-field crops, resulting in a loss of yield. In 2015, a new variant of Fusarium in lettuce, race 4 (Fol: 4), was identified in Europe. In May 2022, the International Seed Federation officially established a harmonised test protocol for claiming resistance to this race. Many of Rijk Zwaan’s existing lettuce varieties are resistant to the new variant of Fusarium.

Rijk Zwaan’s Hydroponics Leaf and Outdoor demos are on the agenda again in June, showcasing the vegetable breeding company’s new, colourful and high-tech vegetable varieties. In fact, both demos will run in parallel from 13-24 June, with the Outdoor demo then continuing until 1 July. During the Hydroponics Leaf Demo, Rijk Zwaan’s living lettuce concepts Salatrio® and Salanova® will be put in the spotlight. Other eye-catchers will be the company’s high-density Salanova Teenleaf and a new variety with burger-sized lettuce leaves. Meanwhile, the Outdoor Demo will highlight Rijk Zwaan’s extensive range of leafy varieties and the attractive cauliflower varieties with magnetising colours and shapes.

Rijk Zwaan is gearing up for a busy schedule of interesting local and internationally oriented events in the month of June. In less than four weeks’ time, the vegetable breeding company will be presenting its promising new and colourful varieties at its own Hydroponics and Outdoor Demo. In parallel, Rijk Zwaan will be sharing its knowledge and services related to high-tech cultivation at GreenTech in Amsterdam. Simultaneously, the company will be welcoming visitors to heir Fruit Crop Pop-up demo.

Vegetable breeding company Rijk Zwaan has been active in cucumber since 1937 and partnerships have always been of paramount importance, ensuring continuous innovation and new cucumber varieties with the right resistances and agronomical traits. That is the key message in Rijk Zwaan’s first video in its ‘The future is sky’ series aimed at high-tech cucumber growers. Thanks to a mindset of shared entrepreneurship, Rijk Zwaan has succeeded in becoming a knowledge partner in all cucumber segments. Its portfolio includes more than 50 available varieties for the smaller high-wire segment alone.

Everyone craves colour in their life, and what could be more magnetising than a display of colourful fresh vegetables to capture people’s attention and draw consumers to the shelves? At Fruit Logistica from 5-7 April, vegetable breeding company Rijk Zwaan is presenting its palette of bright, healthy and inspiring vegetables to help retailers add more colour to the fresh produce category. Don’t miss it!

Today’s consumers are increasingly demanding sustainable options. For example, they expect retailers to minimise food waste by looking into alternatives to plastic packaging. This inspired Liquidseal and Rijk Zwaan to join forces to help the value chain solve this issue. Their partnership has resulted in the introduction of an edible coating on snack cucumbers. This innovative solution offers a great opportunity to meet consumer expectations by improving the sustainability of the fresh produce category.

The growing world population and the intensification of both agriculture and horticulture are inextricably linked, creating major challenges for growers. Not only do they need to manage the increasing demand for high-quality and sustainable produce, but they are also responsible for limiting the frequency and intensity of plant disease. With the Defense label, Rijk Zwaan offers growers worldwide a solution that combines healthy produce with peace of mind. This is yet another example of how Rijk Zwaan works with the industry to tackle challenges together, as partners.

Continually breeding healthy and strong vegetable varieties is Rijk Zwaan’s core business. Each year, the company reinvests a substantial part of its turnover into R&D in order to continuously develop new and improved varieties for its chain partners. Sweet Palermo sweet pointed pepper varieties are a good example of these development activities.