Spain
February 2022

Over 150 professionals from Murcia attended this successful field day. The new broccoli Ulysses F1 stands out due to its high performance, grouped pickups and visual appeal. It is the company’s largest launch of a broccoli variety since Parthenon F1 in 2005.

Visitors had the opportunity to discover its excellent characteristics which make it the best variety on the market for the winter segment.

Ulysses F1 stands out due to its high performance in the field despite low temperatures, a high uniformity that allows grouped harvests and its vaulted and very compact heads. Thanks to its versatility and performance, it can be harvested for four months without its quality being affected. This versatility is not only present in the field, but also on the market: Ulysses F1 is so flexible that it can be harvested from mini calibre to industrial calibre.

Antonio Ibarra, Sakata product promoter for brassicas, emphasises that Ulysses F1 "is an early variety with high performance and very high quality in the middle of winter, two essential qualities in broccoli cultivation. It also has high endurance in the field." Additionally, Javier Bernabéu, manager of Sakata Seed Ibérica, highlights another important attribute of Ulysses F1 – its visual appeal: "Sakata has been breeding broccoli varieties for more than 60 years and the big difference with the new varieties is that these days the market demands visually attractive heads for the consumer".

Growers are also very satisfied with the variety: "Ulysses F1 brings new and different qualities to those we have seen in previous varieties. This crop, transplanted on 5 November, has had excellent results in production and quality. This broccoli has a very fine grain and a good colour," says Juan Francisco Abellaneda, landowner and President of the Deilor cooperative.

The fact that the Greek civilization was the first one to discover broccoli cultivation, has inspired the company to give its latest varieties Greek names. Thassos F1, Perseus F1, Mykonos F1, Gea F1 and Ares F1 are a few of the members of the Sakata broccoli family. Therefore, as a tribute to Greek culture and as a gesture of gratitude to the more than 150 attendees, Sakata held a raffle to win a trip to Greece, staying in Kefalonia and Athens with an excursion to Ithaca, the Greek island famous for being the kingdom and home of the epic hero Ulysses.

You can revisit the event here.

Website: http://www.sakata-eu.com/vegetables/

Published: February 24, 2022