b'ing leaves remain thick which means longer field standing ability and longer shelf life)4.Yield, which is to a large extent related to high germina-tion and seed vigour. He underlines there are many other breeding goals, but qualifies the four above as the key goals.Spinach is a popular low-calorie leafy vegetable crop with increasing demand in healthier diets worldwide, owing to its richness in nutrients, vitamins, proteins, and flavonoid compo-sitions. For Dew Kumari Sharma, Spinach Breeder at Vilmorin-Mikado, the top breeding goal is to breed varieties with good horticultural traits (colour, shape, texture, size, yield, and wider adaptability) combined with an excellent resistance package especially to downy mildew, Fusarium, and leaf spot diseases, among others. Globally, spinach can be grown all year round, so for winter we need fast-growing vigorous varieties and for summer, we need varieties with controlled growth habits with high tolerance to bolting and long field-holding ability, she says.Johan Rijk, Senior Spinach Breeder at KWS Vegetables B.V. Ben Hunter Dew Kumari Sharma clarifies that resistance towards the pathogen downy mildew is the number one breeding goal in spinach breeding. Depending on the market segments and climate, our focus is on vigour, bolt-ing resistance, winterhardiness, leaf-spot resistance, white-rust resistance, Fusarium resistance, colour, texture, abiotic stress tolerance and other quality traits, he adds.PARTICULAR BREEDING CHALLENGES OF ALEAFY CROPThe environmental impact on leafy crops is relatively high. Hence choosing the right location for selection and screening is quite challenging, says Simons.The challenge is to keep leaves fresh and attractive as long as possible. Jaarsma shares that his company is achieving this by offering growers varieties with the highest resistance package to leaf diseases. In addition, the varieties need to be able to grow in different regions of the world during different seasons and weather conditions. The biggest challenge is the rat race against the downy mildew, says Roel Veenstra, Crop Research Manager Brassica, Lettuce, Beans & Spinach at Bejo Zaden, explaining that when-ever there is resistance, the mildew is able to adapt and break through the resistance genes involved.In some companies it may be a challenge to attract highly professional breeders to breed a leafy crop as it may be less pres-tigious than breeding fruit vegetables. However, in Denmark spinach is a very popular crop and 75 per cent of the worlds hybrid spinach seed is produced here so for our company it is easier to find enthusiasm for breeding spinach, says Johansen.Within Vilmorin-Mikado, spinach is a recent addition to their already existing leafy range. Kumari Sharma considers it an advancement towards making their leafy salad portfolio more complete and providing attractive combinations both for growers as well as processors and consumers. The spinach market is highly professional. The market challenges are like other leafy species because they are highly perishable products, where the need for higher shelf-life is transversal, she says. In terms of breeding, the main difference is that varieties that are bred in most leafy salad crops are open pollinated (OP) while in spinach, it is F1 hybrids. Another challenge with spinach is that it is a highly wind-pollinated and day-length sensitive crop. Rinse Jaarsma Globally, the area for spinach seed production is less flexible because the hybrid seed production is concentrated in a few 14IEUROPEAN SEEDIEUROPEAN-SEED.COM'