Multileaf Lettuces Offer Unique Colors, Disease Resistances
From green to red, the multileaf lettuce varieties at Syngenta Vegetable Seeds provide color to any plate, along with good taste and texture that keeps customers coming back for more. With high yield potential, disease resistance, and hydroponic optimization, growers can help keep grocery store produce sections stocked.
Multileaf lettuce is a unique market segment with benefits for both growers and consumers.
“We have options–some are solid green, some have red outer edges with green insides, some have red oak leaves and we have butter segments as well,” according to Miguel Roca, breeding team lead for Syngenta Vegetable Seeds in Spain.
In general, priorities for multileaf lettuces at Syngenta are similar to other lettuces: solid yield, disease resistance and plant quality.
“For resistances, we all know downy mildew is priority number one, but fusarium is more and more a priority as well,” Roca said. Aphids and tomato bushy stunt virus are also considerations.
Meeting Color Demands in Multileaf Lettuce
For red multileaf lettuces, a darker red is preferred — such as Prodigio, a red tango variety. Prodigio has high yield potential and a robust disease package including high resistance to certain downy mildew strains in both the U.S. and E.U., lettuce aphids and tomato bushy stunt virus. It also has intermediate resistance to Fusarium Race 1.
Prodigio’s green counterpart, Juninio, is a green tango variety with similarly high yield potential and disease package. In addition to the disease resistances of Prodigio, Juninio also has high resistance to Fusarium Race 4 and intermediate resistance to Lettuce Mosaic Virus 1.
Syngenta is dedicated to helping growers succeed with the right genetics and the right product placement. Work with your local representative to understand what lettuce options could fit your operational goals.
“Syngenta works really well with growers — they’re listening,” Angela Candeloro, Tripod Farmers managing director, said. “I feel like we’re in sync because we also like to listen to our customers, so I appreciate what they do. It’s great to be associated with Syngenta.”
