gherkin; a global production network
DESCRIPTION
A Rijk Zwaan brochure on gherkin worldwideTRANSCRIPT
Embracing
the challenge of
change
Gherkin special
A global production network
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Embracing the challenge of change together
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“A single factor changing in one country can have
significant impact worldwide.”
Gerald Krischke Crop coordinator international
Rijk Zwaan
“A combination of both production systems could
be conceivable in the future.”
Peter Heckmeier Business Manager
Gherkins
Think global, act localIn agri-food, a worldwide shift is occurring towards a more market- oriented approach. Vegetable varieties have to meet the needs of an ever-greater number of chain partners. New opportu-nities are created through intensive collaboration and knowledge exchange, which is why ‘think global, act local’ has become the modus operandi for the Rijk Zwaan gherkin network.For the last five years, that vision has formed the basis for the continual development of our network structure and services. Today we have a specialist for each of the following five gherkin segments: flat manual, flat mechanical, vertical indoor, vertical outdoor and vertical outdoor subtropical. Needless to say, those five specialists are involved in continuous dialogue about market developments and requirements, thus enabling them to support clients worldwide on production and commercialisation-related matters.
This global network has allowed us to take a more proactive approach to market developments. We can anticipate changes, create trends and shape visions for the global gherkin business chain. We are your reliable partner.
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The gherkin market is becoming increasingly interconnected on a global level, with the result that even small changes in the worldwide business environment can have a big impact. International gherkin advisors Gerald Krischke and Peter Heckmeier experience this every day. “In response to the rising globalisation of this industry, we are continuously creating innovative gherkin varieties with new resistances and characteristics.”
There have always been changes and challenges in the world of gherkins, as Krischke knows all too well. “Just think of the move from open pollinated to partheno carpic varieties in Western and Eastern Europe in the eighties. The difference nowadays, however, is that a single factor changing in just one country can have a significant impact worldwide.” Heckmeier agrees, and he
cites the example of labour costs: “The increased cost pressure in the traditional production markets has led to those areas shifting, and to a new segmentation of gherkins.”
Shift in production areasFrom a consumer perspective, not much has changed; North America, Central Europe and Eastern Europe remain the three major consumption regions.
“However, in recent years the production of almost all smaller type gherkins has shifted to India. These gherkins are harvested manually from a vertical production system, and in India the production-cost situation is still positive. The bigger types gherkins are still produced in the traditional production areas close to the manufacturing plants – simply because long-distance transport is not profitable.”
Growth of mechanisation
Nevertheless, change is underway in those markets too. “We are seeing a trend towards further specialisation and mechanisation of production. In the USA, gherkins are increasingly harvested fully mechanically in a ‘once-over harvesting’. Central Europe uses a semi-mechanical system, the so-called ‘fliegerernte’. A combination of both production systems could be conceivable in the future.”
Innovative varietiesThese shifts are posing considerable challenges in terms of breeding new gherkin varieties. Krischke: “We need to innovate. New varieties should be adapted to the climatic conditions or harvest systems in the new production areas but must also yield final products of the same high quality, irrespective of the factors mentioned earlier. It’s important to bear in mind that today’s gherkin producers are not the same as the gherkin producers of ten years ago. Besides the wishes of growers and plant propagators, we also take into account retailers’ and processors’ demands, for instance. Mutual collaboration benefits the entire chain.”
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Eric Bal is head of Rijk Zwaan’s Cucurbitaceae breeding team. The team’s 27 breeders and selectors work in all main global production areas and are supported by a state-of-the-art, high-tech research department. The team has achieved significant successes in the last few decades, such as being the first to introduce partheno carpic gherkin varieties in 1984. “We firmly believe in this concept and have continued to improve it over the past decades,” says Bal. “This means a constant fruiting of the gherkins, independent of bee activity, and a continual, reliable production
Breeder Eric Bal:
“Growers benefit from a global approach to resistances”
Rijk Zwaan is one of the global leaders in innovative
varieties of the cucumber family, including the long cucumber,
the mini, the slicer and the gherkin. “We have a single global
breeding team for all these crops. This approach has an enormous
benefit for growers, because a genetic breakthrough in, for
instance, the long cucumber can be directly applied in the
gherkin breeding programme too. We see this with characteristics
such as parthenocarpy and virus resistances.”
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Breeder Eric Bal:
“Growers benefit from a global approach to resistances”
of perfect quality for the industry.” Other, more recent innovations include the first parthenocarpic gherkin varieties for once-over mechanical harvesting in the USA and varieties for manually harvested small-grade gherkins in India.
Problematic diseaseAnother matter that has the full attention of the Rijk Zwaan breeding team is developing a resistance against downy mildew in gherkins. Bal: “In fact, it’s one of our top priorities. Downy mildew is one of the biggest problems in all Cucurbitaceae crops, including in gherkins. We have a large gene bank containing basic material
from numerous genetic sources which we use to perform many tests, both in the lab and out in the field, every year. We are also able to screen selected material with marker technology.” Nevertheless, this disease is difficult to overcome. The resistance is linked to other, more negative charac teristics such as flower scars and a significantly lower production. “To be honest,” continues Bal, “I think it will take a few more years before we have developed a gherkin variety with a good level of resis-tance against downy mildew. When we eventually introduce such a variety, we want to be sure that it will be an absolute top variety which also produces a high
yield and perfect quality.”
“12-401 RZ has been specifically developed to
grow in low-light conditions.”Eric Bal,
breeding manager Rijk Zwaan
12-401 RZ Enables winter production in Russia and Ukraine
Using the current varieties, it has so far been virtually impossible to
produce fresh gherkin in the winter in Ukraine and Russia due to the
poor light conditions. However, the introduction of 12-401 RZ now
looks set to change all that. “The trials have been successful,” says
breeding manager Eric Bal.
Break-through by Rijk Zwaan
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“The fruits from the new 12-401 RZ variety are exactly the quality
that growers are looking for.”
Eric Bal,breeding manager Rijk Zwaan
12-401 RZ Enables winter production in Russia and Ukraine
The gherkin is a traditional and extremely popular vegetable in Russia and Ukraine, and lots of fresh gherkins are consumed there all year round. The two countries are key production areas too, but the cold, dark winters make it difficult for the current gherkin varieties to yield the right quality and volumes. Therefore, local growers are forced to grow midi or long cucumbers instead.
Now, however, a recent breakthrough by Rijk Zwaan is about to change this situation. The Rijk Zwaan breeding team has worked to develop gherkins which make more efficient use of the available light – and with success.
After having conducted extensive trials with good results, Rijk Zwaan has intro-duced the new variety 12-401 RZ. This is the first variety that can be planted in January to produce very good-quality gherkins from the end of February onwards. Hence, 12-401 RZ represents a viable alternative for the midi and long cucumber crops normally produced in that period.Bal, who witnessed the trials in Russian greenhouses last year, explains that the results have been very promising. “12-401 RZ has been specifically developed to grow in low-light conditions. The variety is parthenocarpic, so polli-nation is not needed. It also produces one fruit per internode, and that is very important to keep the production in balance. Producing more fruits at once, as spring and summer crops do, would use up too much of the plant’s energy during the low-light, winter period.”
Bal is also enthusiastic about the quality produced: “The fruits from the new 12-401 RZ variety are exactly the quality that growers are looking for. The fruits have a length:diameter ratio of 4.0-4.5, which is longer than average. Also the colour is a nice, dark green – the colour consumers like. Therefore, 12-401 RZ is a very good variety to supply to the market at that time of year.”
“This is the first variety
that can be planted in January.”
Bal describes the 12-401 RZ as a real breakthrough in the Rijk Zwaan assortment. “This new variety opens up a lot of new possibilities for the successful year-round production of gherkins, even during wintertime in Russia and Ukraine. We will continue conducting practical trials with this and other new varieties to develop different and even better growing methods, such as growing with artificial light for instance.”
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Puccini RZ Leading the way in introducing RZ parthenocarpic varieties to the North American gherkin market
No bees needed,better yields and betterinteriour quality
Bees are no longer needed With the introduction of Rijk Zwaan’s parthenocarpic varieties, of which Puccini is the main one, we have totally eliminated the need for bees without affecting yield and quality. In fact, the yields are now even better and so too is the interior quality, since no seeds are present.
No going back to standard varietiesBayview Food Products in Michigan is a major foodservice supplier of gherkins (McDonalds). Bayview’s agriculture manager, Randy Hugo, said they were close to losing one of their biggest and best growers due to a very severe bee allergy until Rijk Zwaan introduced him to RZ varieties which decreased his chances of getting stung. The grower is now very happy with the results he has been getting from the RZ varieties and said he would not go back to standard hybrid varieties.
Puccini now part of major gherkin production programsPuccini and other Rijk Zwaan varieties are now part of gherkin production programs for the major processors like Mt. Olive and Vlasic plus the large gherkin buyers like Hartung Bros., Nash Produce and Chary Produce. Having these companies using RZ varieties has helped Rijk Zwaan to steadily increase its share of the North American gherkin market, year on year.
New fermentation methodNaCl-free gherkin fermentation using
CaCl2 in a tank fermenting process was
developed by R&D manager Lisa Moeller of
Mt. Olive in cooperation with Dr Suzanne
Johanningsmeier and Dr Ilenys Perez-Diaz
of USDA in North Carolina. This process
was tested successfully on the Rijk Zwaan
gherkin variety, RZ Puccini.
Lisa Moeller and Mt. Olive have since gone
their separate ways. Together with Mr Bill Scott,
Ms Moeller has now founded a company
called Fermenting Solutions International
to patent and sell LCC, a short fermenting
process called ‘A-ferm’. We are keen to
present this company and its new process
together with our varieties at field days and
other events in Europe.
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American gherkin producers are renowned for their efficient cultivation techniques, innovative harvesting machines and good production management practices. They also work very closely with their processors or buyers on variety selection to ensure a high-quality end product. In spite of all these efforts, they are being hindered each year by two factors that are out of their control, namely the weather and bee activity.
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India and Rijk Zwaan focus on
high yielding parthenocarpic hybrids
The gherkin industry in India is very well established with exports
reaching 225.000 metric tones per annum. Rijk Zwaan is one of
the strong global players in gherkin seeds supply. Their Indian
varieties focus mainly on parthenocarpic hybrids.
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India and Rijk Zwaan focus on
high yielding parthenocarpic hybrids
Gherkin cultivation, processing and exports were started in India during the early 1990s with a modest beginning in Karnataka State in South India and later extended to the neighbouring states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Here the conditions are prevalent throughout the year, making these regions ideal to take up three crops of gherkins annually.
Since January 2011 Rijk Zwaan is officially active in India’s gherkin seeds market. “We strongly believe that seed is the key tool for success of any agro based processing industry”, indicates Prasanna Damdahalli, Rijk Zwaan gherkin specialist in India. Currently there are more than 100,000 small farmers who are engaged in the production of gherkins. Prasanna: “Our vision is to provide those growers with high yielding and disease tolerant hybrids. Chandini RZ is the first new generation parthenocarpic hybrid we brought to the Indian market.”
Chandini was launched April 2012 and the variety immediately started changing the existing gherkin production dynamics. Since its introduction Chandini has been expanding its market share steadily by performing positively in all agro climatic zones of gherkin growing areas and fitting well as the year round hybrid. “This wide adaptation and its
strong resistant package, which helps growers to reduce chemical applications, are part of the secrets of the varieties success.”Next to its high yield and disease tolerance Chandini pleases the processing industry with important features as LD ratio, colour and crispy texture of the fruits. Rijk Zwaans breeding team always keeps these basic criteria’s in mind while creating new varieties.
Chandini RZChandini RZ is Rijk Zwaan’s first new generation parthenocarpic hybrid on the Indian market. The uniqueness of this variety is its open plant architecture. This ensures good ventilation and aeration, and in turn reduces fruit abortion and fungai infections.
Another positive feature is Chandini’s very cylindrical uniform shape. Its uniformity boosts the high percentage of 1-6 cm gherkins and reduces the wastage in processing units. The fruits are very pleasant to see. Dark green coloured and with dens spines which give the fruits not only an appealing look but also a good protection against the feared fruit fly. And last but certainly not least, the plants are of high yielding nature. Chandini benefits farmers by increasing their revenue and processors by reducing the overhead costs of field production operations. The crop disease resistance to Downey mildew and viruses (CMV and ZYVMV) is a bonus treat in the hybrid. It reduces the use of chemical sprays, saves farmers money and increases food safety from processors and consumers points of view.
Global Gherkin Team
Rijk Zwaan’s descriptions, illustrations, growing advices and any other information in whatever form for example on expiry, sowing, planting and harvesting dates are based as precisely as possible on experiences in trials and in practice. However, Rijk Zwaan does not accept in any case liability for damages resulting from the use of such descriptions, illustrations, growing advices and information. The buyer/user itself is responsible for proper storage of the seeds and will be deemed to determine whether the products and growing advices are suitable to be used for the intended cultivations and under the local conditions. Inclusion of a variety in this edition does not automatically imply that such a variety is available for purposes of exploitation; it might be available for testing only. For more information, please contact Rijk Zwaan (www.rijkzwaan.com). The pictures in this edition show the types to which the varieties as mentioned belong and not all varieties as such. These pictures do not constitute any warrranty, express or implied, of crop performance.
Peter HeckmeierBusiness Manager [email protected]
Dr. Gerald KrischkeCrop coordinator international, Specialist flat cultivationGermany, [email protected]
Laszlo RagyakCrop specialist vertical [email protected]
Marcin PawlakCrop specialist gherkinPoland, Baltic [email protected]
Stanislav OvcharykCrop specialist gherkinUkraine, [email protected]
Andrij GalagurjaSpecialist indoor gherkinUkraine, [email protected]
Sergey SemenovSpecialist indoor [email protected]
Gennandy SudenkoCrop specialist [email protected]
Igor StreliukProject managerCentral Asia [email protected]
Erkut BacCrop specialist [email protected]
Gerard HuliszArea manager RZ ExportPhillipines, Thailand, [email protected]
Prasanna DamdahalliCrop specialist gherkinIndia, SriLanka, [email protected]
George PapeProject manager gherkinUSA, [email protected]
Marcelo SartoriCrop specialist [email protected]
Lionel BardinBusiness manager South AmericaCluster South [email protected]
Rijk Zwaan Zaadteelt en Zaadhandel B.V.
P.O.Box 40 | 2678 ZG De Lier | The Netherlands | T +31 174 532 300 | [email protected] | www.rijkzwaan.com