New downy mildew hybrids soon available

Pickling cucumber growers will soon have a new defense against the devastating downy mildew disease. During the Pickle Packers International annual meeting, Seminis announced the launch of DM Defense, a line of Downy mildew resistant pickling cucumber seed for the 2016 growing season.

“There’s a lot of grower excitement around DM Defense hybrids, especially because the control options for Downy mildew for pickling cucumbers currently is restricted to the use of fungicides,” cucurbit breeding lead Nischit Shetty said in a news release. “When present, Downy mildew can cause extensive foliar damage on leaves of infected plants and there can be a substantial reduction in fruit yield depending on the stage at which plants are infected and the extent of damage.”

Pickling cucumber growers can expect intermediate levels of resistance* to Downy mildew from DM Defense hybrids. This is a step above current industry offerings which are all susceptible to the disease.

Third party testing revealed that DM Defense hybrids showed less susceptibility to Downy mildew infection, resulting in higher yield potential under untreated conditions as compared to the susceptible checks. In addition, DM Defense pickles provide growers the potential for a more flexible spray schedule as a result of the Downy mildew resistance.

“While DM Defense hybrids help provide yield protection when field or weather conditions do not allow timely fungicide applications, scouting and use of fungicide with multiple modes of action will be needed to achieve highest yield potential,” explained Shetty. “Young plants (<5 leaf stage) are vulnerable and need to be protected by fungicide if there is a high risk of infection in the area.”

Initially, Seminis plans to launch two hybrids under the DM Defense brand for the 2016 planting season with more products to follow. Products sold under the DM Defense  brand will possess the outstanding growing potential and quality growers have grown to expect from Seminis products.