A varied pepper afternoon

On Thursday 14 September 2006, Syngenta organised an open afternoon for pepper growers, advisors and plant-breeders.

The presentations were about the plant protection product package, the international market and the product range of Syngenta Seeds. "This time we wanted to do something more than just an open day, and also wanted to suit all tastes" said Nico van Vliet, Pepper Product Manager.
In the first presentations, Marcel Hubers of Syngenta Crop Protection and Caroline van de Hoek of Syngenta Bioline discussed the plant production product package of Syngenta.

After these presentations, Product Business Manager Michael Sempf of Syngenta Seeds discussed the state of affairs of the international pepper market. He pointed out that Dutch pepper has enough strong points to outdo the competition. This year, an especially positive image is contributing to a better price for the producer. According to Sempf the growth has to due with increased consumption. "In Germany people consume one pepper every three weeks on the average; if we succeed in increasing the consumption just a little, this would result in a important increase in demand".
After Nico van Vliet's short review of the product range of Syngenta Seeds, the buses were ready to leave for the company visits. The first visit was to the company of Jaco van de Bosch, a green pepper grower. After cultivating green peppers for five years he has almost always bred the same number of varieties, but this year he has decided to plant the current Syngenta variety, Sopra. He is satisfied with the product despite its thin skin and the presence of some mutations. By week 36, his production had reached 26.5 kilos. With Sopra, Van Vliet is considering surpassing the boundary of 100 hectares.
The second company visited was 'de Groenhoek' market garden, where we saw a little experimental patch of number PR02238. This red variety contributed well to production and is especially characterised by its reliability, a feature that is becoming more and more important according to Nico van Vliet. "We observe with all colours that the production focus is moving towards reliability. We also call it the 'farmer's pepper' and this refers to the fact that everyone can cultivate this pepper".
The other group of growers visited the companies of the Van der Waal family in Moerkapelle, where they could see the varieties of Fiero and Sensatio. Mr. Van der Waal was very enthusiastic about both varieties. With respect to the Fiero variety, he referred to the lower percentage of inland and with respect to the Sensatio variety he mentioned the smaller height of the plant as well as the coarseness of the fruits.
All in all, Syngenta can look back on a successful open day that was also highly appreciated by the visitors.


Presentations

• Geïntegreerde bestrijding in paprika - Caroline van den Hoek   Presentation (Dutch - PDF - 729Kb)  
• Schoon eindigen en starten in paprika - Marcel Hubers  Presentation (Dutch - PDF - 316Kb)  
• Pepper - An EAME overview - Michael Sempf  Presentation (English - PDF - 1492Kb)  
• Paprikadag S&G 2006-2007 - Nico van Vliet  Presentation (Dutch - PDF - 492Kb)  
• Sopra grower's report: Sopra, een succes story  Testimonial (Dutch - PDF - 354kb)  
• Fiero grower's report: Fiero, een gele paprika met eer  Testimonial (Dutch - PDF - 416kb)  
• Dutch Pepper Brochure 2006-2007   Brochure (Dutch - PDF - 1235kb)

It was the first time the company opted for combining exploratory presentations with company visits. The location was the Airport Hotel in Rotterdam and the visitors were welcomed with a yellow pepper 3.5 meters high.

Syngenta Seeds Vegetables Peppers Today - January 2009