The USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) has released two inbred broccoli lines that are adapted to southeastern US summer environments. Lines USVL156 and USVL160 were developed by Mark Farnham, former broccoli program leader at the US Vegetable Laboratory in Charleston, SC, as part of his efforts with the Eastern Broccoli Project. The releases makes seed of the lines available to any research or commercial program that would like to work with them.
USVL156 and USVL160 stand out for their ability to make high quality, marketable broccoli heads in the heat of a Charleston summer, where the average daytime temperature is 86°F and the average nighttime low is 77°F. Farnham has tested many commercial broccoli hybrids under these conditions; all failed to produce marketable heads, and some did not produce any heads.
Both lines originated as selections from field-planted, segregating populations. USVL156 was developed through the conventional method of self-pollination to advance the line and generate seed, followed by further field selection. This process was repeated through six generations, then the line was advanced two more generations (to the F8) through single seed descent. Inbreeding of USVL160 was achieved through the creation of a doubled haploid line that was selected from summer field plantings and has since been maintained through self-pollinations.
The newly released lines have been used in several hybrid combinations that tested well in Eastern Broccoli trials, even outperforming commercial varieties in the southern Appalachian production region. They are somewhat small in stature and have very early maturity.
More information on USVL156 and USVL160, including how to obtain seed, can be found here or through the link on our Reports page. Seed is also available for inbred broccoli lines USVL048 and USVL131, which were released from Farnham’s program in 2012. Additional trial performance data is available from Eastern Broccoli Project director Thomas Björkman.