Commercial Performance of Broccoli Varieties Selected for a New Climate

Variety development through the Eastern Broccoli Project has resulted in initial releases from seed companies. These new varieties were trialed in various Eastern production systems to determine relative yield, marketability proportion, and holding time. The 9 trial sites ranged from Maine to southern Florida. The new varieties were Burney, BC 1691, BC1764, and DuraPak19. They were compared to a popular Eastern variety, Green Magic. The various production systems ranged in gross yield from 300 to 1000 boxes per acre. The marketable yield of the new varieties was between 50 and 80% of the gross yield. In general, most of the yield could be obtained with three cuts. While the varieties varied in maturity, the progression of production during the harvest period was quite similar among varieties. The field-holding ability was measured as loss to overmaturity at three days beyond peak maturity. That loss averaged 25%, but varied considerably. In general, the new varieties had less loss on field holding than the standard.