Why grow InVigor?
In difficult times the temptation for many oilseed rape (OSR) growers, and indeed the advice given to many of these growers, will be to cut costs, reduce inputs and hope for a reasonable margin when it comes to harvest.
However, we believe that in times of adversity, it is vital growers ensure they still have a valuable crop at the end of harvest, even if this means making an upfront investment. So why would you grow a hybrid OSR variety?
Below, we’ve listed eight reasons why you’ll be glad you planted an InVigor hybrid.
Leading hybrids
InVigor is an industry leader in research, development & production of new trait technologies for oilseed rape hybrids. We are dedicated to delivering varieties which help growers meet the challenges of growing oilseed rape.
Stronger damage recovery
There is no doubt that hybrids are more vigorous and resilient to agronomic and environmental pressures throughout the season. Extreme damage from pests such as pigeons, or severe winter weather, can cause complete crop failure, resulting in significant costs to growers. It is very difficult to truly predict what these pressures will be each year, but InVigor hybrids have incredible resilience, offering faster, stronger recovery from after substantial damage caused by flea beetle (both adult and larvae) pigeons and frost.
Through working with UK growers, we have found this is particularly appealing for growers concerned about cabbage stem flea beetle larvae attack, who need a variety able to establish quickly and grow away from pest problems, meaning that they are more likely to achieve a viable crop in marginal conditions.
We’ve put our InVigor hybrids through extreme testing and found that even after being mown to the ground, they have incredible resilience, and are able to recover exceptionally quickly.
Class-leading oil content
In difficult market conditions, oil content and the subsequent bonuses available are more important than ever to OSR growers. We know that oil content is under genetic control and is much more consistent than seed yield. InVigor OSR hybrids have amongst the best oil contents available, offering a significant bonus to growers and securing the value of the crop.
Robust disease resistance
InVigor hybrids have robust disease resistance to the key OSR diseases, with high levels of resistance to Light leaf spot and Phoma stem canker as standard.
High yields & consistent performance
InVigor hybrids deliver reliable performance in ‘real-world’ on-farm situations whatever the season brings, which can be invaluable under tough/extreme conditions. We conduct field trials and work with growers around the UK to better understand how our hybrids perform in ‘real-world’ on-farm situations, and in different seasons, with variable disease pressures. Growers’ experience has told us that better gross outputs and exceptional consistency of performance are being achieved with our InVigor hybrids.
Flexible sowing
With unpredictable weather at harvest, and workloads ever increasing, flexibility is essential for UK growers. It is becoming more common for OSR to be drilled later in the season, due to delays at harvest, or to help avoid pest problems and support grass weed control.
Many of our InVigor hybrids are well suited to a later sowing date, and are still able to produce competitive yield and oil content. They have been shown to withstand colder soils at sowing and produce roots and leaves faster than some other varieties under those conditions
Highly developed root systems
InVigor hybrids are fast to develop highly effective root systems which optimise uptake of water and nutrients and help set the foundation for yield ahead of winter. A good root structure put down in autumn will keep the plant going over winter, when leaf growth may die off, and will help to power early spring growth. In autumn drought conditions, such as those experienced in 2016 and 2018, InVigor hybrids showed huge benefits in establishment over their conventional counterparts.
Carefully stewarded seed production
Our hybrid seed production is carried out under isolation and on ‘virgin’ land. In addition to this, InVigor hybrid seed is tested for erucic acid levels before sale, so you can be confident that by planting certified InVigor seed, you are minimising the risk of contamination.
