News

There has been a reported increase in the level of aphid activity this winter. Although the aphid in question looks like the lettuce aphid, Nasonovia ribisnigri, all the samples received have been identified as the Foxglove aphid (greenhouse-potato aphid), Aulacorthum solani.

After 18 years since a large scale horticultural expo in the Lockyer Valley the horticultural industry joined the Lockyer Valley Growers for a celebration of all things vegetable; the 2016 National Horticultural and Innovation Expo, held at the end July. The Rijk Zwaan variety trial held the full range of brassica, lettuce and spinach varieties selected for the Australian market, with a number of highlights in each of the crops.

With record-breaking attendances at the recent 2016 National Horticulture Convention, Rijk Zwaan was delighted to participate as an exhibitor at the Trade Show.

Vegetable breeding company Rijk Zwaan and Naturalis Biodiversity Center are forming a unique partnership to conduct research into biological material. During a visit to the Naturalis collection earlier today, Rijk Zwaan’s Managing Director Kees Reinink signed a three-year contract with Koos Biesmeijer, Research Director at Naturalis.

In a radical departure from the traditional conference registration the 10th Annual HFF Conference kicked off with a breakfast salad experience; delegates shared the opportunity to see award winning chef and Love My Salad Ambassador Christopher Howe turn hydroponic produce into salad dishes tailor made for the event.

The Trial Center Tomato (TCT) in Kwintsheul has been open for visitors again since 1 April. Here Johan Vis, Specialist Marketing Tomato & Cucumber, discusses the latest trends and developments in the vegetable category.

From 17th to 18th May Rijk Zwaan was present as an exhibitor at the PMA A-NZ conference Fresh Connections 2016: a key networking, educational and business event for the Australasian fresh produce industry run by the PMA.

The IWGP (International Working Group Peronospora) has decided that Pfs UA1519B (Peronospora farinosa f. sp. spinaciae) is official Pfs 16. This isolate is found several times in 2015 in the USA and for the moment not in other continents.

Rijk Zwaan has launched the ‘Growing Partner app’ which will enable crop advisors and growers to exchange knowledge with one another via their smartphones.

Running concurrently with our recent demo trial open day Rijk Zwaan was proud to share recent consumer salad leaf research, and visitors were invited to join Australia’s first "Love My Salad" salading workshop, developed especially for food professionals. Here are the recipes from that workshop...