On Saturday July 1st, the International Bremia Evaluation Board for the EU (IBEB-EU) officially identified three new races of Bremia in lettuce, Bl: 38EU, BI: 39EU and BI: 40EU. Several tests on the Bejo lettuce assortment have shown that nearly all of our commercial varieties with resistance to Bl:16-37EU are also resistant to Bl:16-40EU. Or now BI:29-40EU, which is the new resistance description for high resistant varieties.
Bremia, also known as downy mildew (Bremia lactucae), is one of the most destructive diseases in lettuce. Therefore it is important for growers to use lettuce varieties that are resistant. Bremia is genetically very variable, explaining why this year three new races are announced.
The demography of the new races can be summarized as follows: BI: 38EU was more frequently found in Southern Europe, BI: 39EU was more frequently seen in Northern Europe and BI: 40EU is prevalent across whole Europe. BI races 16-28EU were not found in recent years and are not considered required for commercial communications and notations anymore by IBEB. Therefore, we will change BI:16-37EU resistance claims to BI:29-40EU for resistant varieties.
Ilona Claassen, Bejo’s junior area Crop Manager for lettuce, says: “Despite the identification of three new Bremia races, nearly all of our current high resistant varieties, are still high resistant after the denomination of these new Bremia races. We are confident to remain a committed partner for growers by supplying reliable lettuce varieties that offer the best available protection. We will continue to breed for the best possible Bremia resistances in our future generation of lettuce varieties. Next to resilience, quality and other important resistances of course.”
WE ARE CONFIDENT TO REMAIN A COMMITTED PARTNER FOR GROWERS BY SUPPLYING RELIABLE LETTUCE VARIETIES THAT OFFER THE BEST AVAILABLE PROTECTION
The IBEB emphasizes that, although breeding companies supply growers with resistant lettuce varieties, this is not a guarantee against Bremia infections. An integrated approach with hygienic measures, right use of chemical control and the choice for resistant varieties are needed to protect the crop and prevent the occurrence of new races. Important, looking at the number of identified races this year.
Our local representatives can give more information about our lettuce assortment and current resistance packages. And for each variety the new resistance package is shown on our website.
