Two new sugar beet varieties from Strube will be available for drilling in spring 2025, says the plant breeder.
ST Trent and ST Tweed offer competitive performance with low bolting. ST Tweed in particular offers comparable yields to Morgan – with lower disease expression for rust, powdery mildew and cercospora.
Yield protection
“We expect this variety to be highly reliable and stable in its ‘real world’ performance – even more so over a long growing season where a late harvest date is planned,” says Strube UK managing director Richard Cogman.
It will be the third year of recommendation for proven Strube varieties Morgan, Stewart and Button – the latter offering tolerance to Beet Cyst Nematode (BCN), helping to protect against yield loss, combined with strong establishment.
For the steadily fodder and energy markets, Strube is offering the varieties Clemens, Degas and Gahan. These varieties have proven themselves to be consistently reliable, offering growers excellent feed value, says Mr Cogman.
The news follows the recent announcement that French seed breeder Deleplanque has reached an agreement to acquire 100% of Strube. At the same time, Deleplanque will sell off its fertiliser division.
Deleplanque chairman Eric Verjux said the two decisions would strengthen the company’s position as an international plant breeder of sugar beet, vegetables, wheat and sunflowers.
Strube general manager Hervé Caroff said the deal would be completed by the second half of 2024 at the latest. “This strategic move will reinforce our development objectives, particularly in the sugar beet seed market.” he added.
