Walker Brothers, Inc. welcomes its newest team member, Pedro Cisneros Zevallos. Zevallos has 23 years of practical experience in the green and white asparagus industry, a Masters in Plant Breeding from Universidad Nacional Agraria in Lima, Peru and both a M.Sc. and PhD in Genetics from University of California Davis, Pedro, who lives in Peru. Pedro represents Walker Brothers, Inc. in the South American region and will support asparagus growers there.
In 2017, Walker Brothers, Inc. employed Dr. Wenjing Chen, who has a PhD in Agricultural Science and specializes in different aspects of asparagus. Dr. Chen is the current Assistant General Manager and an International Representative of Walker Brothers, Inc. She represents the company in different scientific and industrial conferences, as well as at trade shows worldwide. She also works with asparagus growers to establish new asparagus plantations and trials across the globe.
Katie Ralston, another representative of Walker Brothers, Inc., has nearly 10 years of experience in agriculture, specializing in strawberries and asparagus, international logistics and trial evaluation. With such a multi-lingual and multi-continental staff, the Walker Brothers team is able to understand growers in different climates with different needs, and assist them in maximizing their yields and profits.
With 46-years of experience in asparagus, the Walkers understand the importance of developing more efficient varieties that give consistent and high quality yields that offer sustainable and profitable returns. The Walker Brothers portfolio includes green and purple hybrid asparagus varieties that are being successfully grown on every continent (except for Antarctica). The Walker Breeding Program is currently focusing its efforts on developing new hybrids that offer high marketable yields, consistent spear size and quality, disease resistance and good flavor, while also looking to the future trends of asparagus production.
So far, new trials in 17 countries have been established to test new hybrids from the Walker Breeding Program. Preliminary results obtained from these trials in countries with tropical and sub-tropical climates look promising. In the upcoming 2020/2021 season, and with Pedro’s assistance, Walker Brothers will continue to set up new trials and evaluate its current commercial hybrids as well as new hybrids in the South American region.
The company, founded by the Walker family in the 1800s, has been working with farmers for over 100 years. The Walkers have developed valuable relationships with their customers and with their international team of asparagus experts, have adapted to meet the needs of their customers in the modern age while still providing the level of customer care and attention that stems from their founding family values.