Kohlrabi
Kohlrabi is the round, bulbous stem of a cabbage plant. Eaten cooked or raw, this vegetable is popular in parts of Europe and Asia in particular. Rijk Zwaan has had a leading position in the European market since time immemorial, with an outstanding presentation and ever more labour-friendly varieties.
Kohlrabi is a common vegetable in the winter crop and cool climates in some Asia countries. Thanks to many significant benefits such as improving digestion, helping to lose weight, increasing energy, preventing anemia, and being beneficial for bone development, many diverse and nutritious dishes are made from kohlrabi.
Our kohlrabi varieties are characterised by a nice, regular shape. With this presentation, Rijk Zwaan is clearly distinguishable as a kohlrabi company. The erect and uniform crop also makes the kohlrabi easy to harvest and it is hardly susceptible to basal diseases. Reliability is another aspect of the crop we pay a lot of attention to in our selection work.
We continue to look for improvements to our current range: better resistances and an even more labour-friendly crop. But we also watch developments in the food market very closely; for instance, those in the area of convenience vegetables. Giving kohlrabi a different flavour or making it smaller might well open up new applications for this vegetable.
In the Asia market, Rijk Zwaan is focusing on developing varieties of short-term kohlrabi, purple kohlrabi, green kohlrabi and white kohlrabi with high nutritional content. Especially, they are grown under greenhouse conditions to bring the highest yield.
Susheel Kumar
Cucumber grower (India)
I am not from a farming background. My knowledge was limited about different practices of cucumber cultivation, like fertilizers and water management. Expert advice from Rijk Zwaan specialists helped me to gain the practical knowledge that I could implement in my field.