b'PARTNER CONTENTCreative Thinking with Leafy GreensCharlie Dowling, greens breeder for Vilmorin-Mikado, chats about an ever-expanding gene pool of leafy genetics.I n our last article, we talked aboutshape and even higher yield to marketVilmorin-Mikados rich history, andbut without the resistance package, the how they were continuously working tovariety wont make it in the marketplace. expand their large gene pool to better beefOne thing that helps their program up their leafy and brassica pillar crops. breed for this downy mildew resistance is Their largest growing pillar? Leafytheir location.crops.Were local in the Salinas area, he Originally, we started with just lettucesays. That gives us an advantage, because under our umbrella, says Charlie Dowl- were creating varieties that are adapted to ing, greens breeder for Vilmorin-Mikadoour local market.in America. Recently, we acquired a seedDowling says actively speaking and company in the Salinas Valley as well aschecking in on challenges local growers are a spinach breeding program in Denmark,facing is one of his top priorities, because it which has really opened up our breedinghelps him adjust his breeding strategies to program. meet their needs.Now, instead of a narrow focus on justCharlie Dowling is a greens breeder forI can visit with growers and see what lettuce, Vilmorin-Mikado has opened upVilmorin-Mikado, based in the Salinas Valleythey really want in a variety, and what the their breeding program to other greens,in California.market trends are, he says. Its important such as kale, arugula, Swiss chard andto create a personal connection with our spinach as well.European industry, he says. We want tocustomers, even though Im not a sales Dowling says in his breeding program,be competitive in the market, and our driverepresentative. Its not often customers they have roughly 10 species of leafy greens,is that we want to be in every salad mix. get to speak directly with breeders, and all which come with their own challenges.That means, every bag of salad thatits always fun to create that connection With 10 different species, we haveincludes baby leafy greens, Dowling aims tobetween our local breeding program and a few challenges that pop up, he says.have at least one Vilmorin-Mikado varietythe local growers.There are different life cycles such as an- in it.In the end, Dowling says theres one nual crops versus biennial crops. AnotherIn addition, we want to be known forthing he loves about his work.issue is the mode of reproduction: you canhaving varieties that perform better thanAs a scientist, a breeder and a cre-have self-pollinated crops, wind pollinatedany of our competitors in market, he says. ative thinker, its really fun to look at the crops or insect pollinated crops. That boils down basically to making surepotential opportunity that the leafy market Switching from kale to arugula tothat the varieties are equipped with im- opens, he says. Working on so many Swiss chard can become challenging, butproved resistance to downy mildew, he says. different species allow us to potentially luckily, we have individual breeding strate- Take kale, Dowling says. Downybring something to market thats never gies for each species to help our researchmildew is a huge issue, and its almost im- been seen before. Think about sweet baby operations team. possible to come to market in the organicbroccoli or sprouting cauliflowera more The biggest focus Dowlings team is cur- industry without a resistance package forrecent market phenomenon. Its an exciting rently focusing on? The baby leaf market. downy mildew. thought to see all the potential we can do Our main goal is to release varieties forDowling says that means you can bein our program.the baby leaf market, targeting the U.S. andcompetitive and bring new colors, leaf DECEMBER 2020SEEDWORLD.COM /91'