The autumn season represents another growing cycle for arugula and Tozer Seeds America (Tozer) is developing and breeding new arugula varieties. Recently, Tozer shared that several new lines of Arugula will be tested in the US market beginning in January 2019. The new lines will aim to improve mildew tolerance, vigor, slow bolting and yield.

“Tozer is continuously at the forefront of developing and breeding new arugula varieties,” said Kraig Kuykendall, Sales Manager of Tozer Seeds America. “In addition to our existing lines that have been bred for mildew tolerance and yield, we are excited to trial several new lines with our growers early next year.”

Existing arugula lines include Ares, Athena, Apollo and Aphrodite. These lines all display strong results with similar vigor as standard varieties. With improved mildew tolerance, these varieties are an ideal choice for main season and autumn productions. Tozer also bred these lines to have extended shelf life. “Our main goal is to lead the market with constant variety improvements which we hope will help the grower as well as the end consumer,” says Kuykendall.

Tozer said its selection of arugula has great benefits for both growers and retailers. According to the company, its varieties offer growers a more vigorous, slower bolting plant with disease tolerance making them easier to grow. These varieties also provide retailers with improved flavor and more interesting leaf shape and color, they said.

Tozer’s arugula breeding program began in the late 1990s. Since the introduction of Voyager in 2004, the world’s first named variety of arugula, Tozer said it continues to release improved arugula types with improved agronomic, post-harvest and consumer appeal characteristics.