'Banerjee's Giant' Chard

Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris Origin: West Bengal, India Improvement status: Cultivar Seeds per packet: ~30 Germination tested 10/2024: 73% Life cycle: Annual 'Banerjee's Giant' is a large-leafed annual chard that's become a popular variety in India, where it was bred. Its parents are an imported sugar beet and a local West Bengali chard variety. This variety has large green leaves with a succulent white stem. Some plants might produce tasty roots too. It's used in India in many of the same dishes in which one might use spinach, to the point that chards (including the local type used to breed this one) are often referred to as spinach ("palak") in India. As mentioned, this is an annual chard — most are biennial — which makes it much easier for seed farmers like us to produce a good seed crop, with no need for overwintering. We got our stock seed from the USDA's National Plant Germplasm System. These seeds were grown for us by our friends Corrie and Jose Spellman-Lopez in Vineland, New