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Enza Zaden South Africa’s lettuce range offers dependable quality and performance across all growing conditions, supporting the needs of farmers, distributors, nurseries, and market agents alike. With varieties suited for fresh markets, pre-packing, and processing, each segment in this range delivers unique benefits that help growers achieve optimal yields and meet market standards.
Enza Zaden’s Iceberg lettuce leads the range as a year-round performer with adaptability for all seasons. Known for its strong disease resistance to Downy mildew and Nasonovia ribisnigri, Iceberg varieties minimise pest-related management. The plants are resilient against bolting and tipburn and produce large, heavy heads that are uniform with excellent internal layering. Suitable for open-field, hydroponic, and net-house growing, Iceberg is the preferred choice for the fresh market and processing sectors, offering high adaptability and quality consistency.
Next is the Butterhead segment, which showcases dark green leaves with a smooth, market-ready appearance. Butterhead varieties are highly versatile, suited for open-field, hydroponic, and net-house setups. They also demonstrate resilience to Downy mildew, bolting, and tipburn, making them ideal for whole-head production and processing.
The Baby Gem segment is a great option for pre-packaged salads, with its compact heads, vibrant colour, and delightful sweetness and crunch. Baby Gem varieties show resilience in both warm and cool conditions, along with high tolerance to fusarium and bolting, making them suitable for dense planting and high yields in field or hydroponic settings.
The Eazyleaf segment is tailored for processing, with multi-leaf, frilly, and incised varieties offering high colour contrast and firm leaves. Known for being "eazy to eat, eazy to prepare and process," these varieties hold up well during mechanical harvesting. Their dense structure reduces waste and discolouration, ensuring a longer shelf life.
In the Romaine category, Budgee stands out as an easy-to-harvest, one-cut variety with compact, uniform leaves. Known for its fresh, crunchy texture and mild sweetness, Budgee is a top choice for bagged salads and offers high yields and strong disease resistance.
Through its diverse lettuce range, Enza Zaden South Africa supports growers with dependable solutions that deliver on quality, adaptability, and yield across all growing seasons.
Author: Rene du Preez - Marketing Specialist at Enza Zaden Sub-Saharan Africa