III Internatinoal Symposium on Carrort and other Apiaceae - Vilmorin-Mikado fortifies its position as global carrot leader
France
October 9, 2023
As gold sponsor of the International Symposium on Carrot and other Apiaceae, the seed company Vilmorin-Mikado is actively contributing to this third edition to present its Carrot expertise on the latest evolutions of the industry, as well as its global carrot range. Entitled “A taste of things to come”, this event is gathering the experts of the species in York, England, from 2 to 5 October 2023.
Vilmorin-Mikado, Gold sponsor of the 3rd Symposium
As the world leader in carrot with one third of carrot seeds sold worldwide, Vilmorin-Mikado is sponsoring the third International Carrot Symposium. “After sponsoring the first two editions of this symposium, we are very happy to renew our support to this global event dedicated to Carrots and innovation. It is a pleasure to be back to this event to highlight our worldwide carrot range as well as our expertise as Global Carrot Experts” announces Amélie THERIEZ, Global Carrot Marketing Manager. For the occasion, Vilmorin-Mikado invited its clients, producers, and distributors from 14 countries.
Three Carrot experts Vilmorin-Mikado for the scientific sessions
How are we adapting to climate change? How can artificial intelligence help to provide quantitative and reliable data to select new varieties?... Several topical issues are at the center of discussions today, with one permanent goal: create new carrot varieties even better adapted to the environment and to the customer needs. To share its expertise during the symposium, Vilmorin-Mikado is mobilizing its Carrot experts to animate three scientific sessions on its most recent findings on climate change, genetics, and computer vision with smartphones:
Envirotyping and climate change
Juliette CHEVALIER, Vilmorin-Mikado Carrot pre-breeder, explains how envirotyping, that describes the environmental conditions impacting plant development, can help to mitigate the impact of climate change on carrot. Identifying and measuring stress the crop must cope with is a precious tool for Vilmorin-Mikado to create performing resilient carrot varieties.
Carrot Genetics Stéphanie ARNOUX, Vilmorin-Mikado Carrot geneticist, describes how she develops high-density genetic map to facilitate the breeding and improve carrot crops. This map can provide a better understanding and identify the genetic basis of interesting agronomic traits to breed more efficiently the future carrot varieties with improved yield, disease resistance, stress tolerance, etc.
Computer vision Cindy TORRES, Vilmorin-Mikado Project Manager in Artificial Vision, explains computer vision for carrot roots on smartphone images taken during crop evaluation. It helps evaluating tricky characters that can be hard to judge just by looking at them, invisible or difficult to access by eye, difficult or painful to perform in the field or time-consuming for Quality Control and Breeding teams.
A complete and dynamic worldwide carrot range
Reinforcing its position of world carrot leader, Vilmorin-Mikado is taking the opportunity to present part of its complete and dynamic global carrot range during the British Carrot Growers Association (BCGA) demonstration day on October 5th. A range of 6 carrot types - the broadest range in the world - with more colors and sustainable solutions for all markets of the carrot chain. For this special occasion, Vilmorin-Mikado is showcasing more than half of its high-quality range with four major novelties since the last edition:
New Berlikum carrot ALTIPLANO F1: Commercial carrots for Central America with very high uniformity, big improvement in root quality and marketable yields.
New Chantenay carrot MVC 607 F1 in development with leaf blight tolerance, good enlargement, smoothness, and better root color.
New colored carrot VAC 144 F1 for fresh markets with good resistance to bolting and an intense purple color (Nantes type).
TERAPUR, an innovative and agroecological plant solution for the European market to combat the nematode Heterodera carotae. Acting like a trap crop resistant to this nematode, TERAPUR encourages cysts to hatch, and traps larvae present in the soil. By blocking the nematode cycle, TERAPUR prevents the formation of new cysts.
Several growers and experts testify:
A carrot range distributed by Hazera in Northern Europe
With a wide range of varieties adapted to every locality, Northern Europe is a key market for Vilmorin-Mikado whose carrot range is distributed by Hazera under the commercial brand Vilmorin in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Poland. It should be noted that, in Northern Europe, Vilmorin-Mikado best-selling variety is Octavo F1. This Nantes carrot has excellent characteristics: disease resistance (cavity spot, Alternaria, powdery mildew), soil and cold storage, frost resistance, good resistance to root breakage, homogeneity, and good root quality, resulting in excellent yields. Its germplasm offers solutions to environmental problems, including climate change.