GREENSBORO, N.C., U.S.A. – Syngenta continues to demonstrate its strong commitment to the future of broccoli production with the addition of a new broccoli breeder, based in Gilroy, California.
“Broccoli production has significantly increased in the U.S. over the past several years in order to fulfill consumer demand, jumping 13 percent from 2013 to 2014,” said Barner Golumbfskie-Jones, Syngenta leafy and brassica crop product marketing manager. “The addition of a new breeder will give us the ability to focus our broccoli breeding efforts for North America, which is the fastest growing broccoli market in the world.”
With a robust program now established in North America, Syngenta will move forward aggressively in the introduction of new varieties that increase the breadth and depth of its portfolio and bring added value to the market.
Julie Rothe, Ph. D., recently joined Syngenta as a plant breeder focused primarily on broccoli and will lead its sweet baby broccoli program. In addition, Rothe will support global breeding with research on multiple additional complementary brassica crops for the North American market.
“We are very excited and optimistic about the new opportunities her experience and knowledge will bring to our program,” said Golumbfskie-Jones. “For sweet baby broccoli, her team is already working to introduce improved varieties in addition to our current offerings.”
Syngenta has several other projects underway, including the development of Frivioles Brussels sprouts and kale hybrid varieties. Syngenta also plans to introduce new cauliflower varieties that produce heads of vibrant colors including hot pink, purple and orange.
“While introducing traits that offer a unique eating experience for consumers is important, developing traits that allow growers to address production challenges is critical as well,” said Rothe. “We are evaluating traits that expedite maturity of heads, allowing for earlier days to harvest and creating first-to-market opportunities for producers. We are also working to enhance disease resistance in our brassica offerings and introduce varieties with improved systemic downy mildew resistance.”
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