Page 226 - Breeding and regulatory opportunities, Renaud

Chapter 6

Category 1: Traits of equal and high importance to both organic and

conventional growers.

Traits that fell under this category included high head weight and high

percentage harvestable yield, even maturity, and quality characteristics such as

head irmness, smoothness and small, uniform bead size. Both sets of growers

desired good ield holding capacity in order to have some lexibility with their

harvest schedules.

Category 2: Traits of which importance varies by production scale, not

production type.

Some traits identiied depended upon the size of the growers’production system

such as large scale, mechanical or small scale production per crop and consider

such traits in a diversiied crop rotation. As conventional production consists of

primarily large-scale growers moving towards mechanised harvest and aiming

at both the fresh market and processing industries, traits related for mechanical

harvest are more important than for a local, fresh market type. Many organic

producers preferred lexibility in maturation and extended harvest from side-

shoot development (Myers et al., 2012). Large scale mechanical harvest requires

uniform plants, high head placement in the plant and head maturity for a once

over harvest. Processors have speciic requirements concerning head diameter,

dark uniform head- and stem colour and a crown cut type.

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