On Monday, July 2nd, the International Bremia Evaluation Board for Europe (IBEB-EU) officially designated two new races of Bremia, Bl:34EU and Bl:35EU, in lettuce. All tests on the Bejo lettuce assortment have shown that our commercial varieties with resistance to Bl:16-33EU are also resistant to Bremia Bl:16-35EU.

Bremia, also known as downy mildew, is one of the most destructive diseases in lettuce. Therefore it is important for growers to use lettuce varieties that have maximum resistance to this pathogen.

Gerhard Völkel, Bejo’s Crop Manager for lettuce, says: “Last year we were happy to have Bl:33EU resistance in the most relevant part of our lettuce assortment, and now the same varieties cover those new Bremia races. We will continue breeding for the best possible Bremia resistances as a main focus for the next generation of lettuce varieties.”