The benefits of WorldVeg tomato breeding
World Vegetable Center breeding programs produce the materials national research institutes need to bring new resilient and productive varieties to farmers.
Vigorous vines of ‘NIAB JAUHAR’–a cross of WorldVeg line LBR10 and ‘Roma’. Pakistan’s farmers will appreciate the outstanding agronomic qualities of this hybrid tomato.
Two new hybrids for Pakistan
Tomato is an important vegetable around the world, but in some countries productivity remains low—in part due to the use of old varieties that lack tolerance to heat, drought and other environmental stress and have limited resistance to pest and diseases.
In Pakistan, for instance, tomato growers produce about 9-10 tons per hectare (Agriculture Statistics of Pakistan, 2014-15) compared to 34.7 tons per hectare in other parts of the world (FAO, 2013). Only 67% of local demand for tomato is being met, with the remainder imported at high prices.
Under the Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP) for Pakistan (October 2013 to March 2017) funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and supported by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), the World Vegetable Center collaborated with Dr. Muhammad Yussouf Saleem and his team at the Nuclear Institute for Agriculture and Biology (NIAB), Faisalabad to develop improved tomato hybrids.
NIAB breeders found many desirable traits in WorldVeg tomato lines and used these breeding materials to create four high-performing determinate hybrids. Of these, LBR-7, LBR-9, LBR-10, LBR-11 and LBR-17 showed tolerance to early and late blight. By crossing these lines with elite local lines, several high yielding hybrids (F1) tolerant to early and late blight were developed.
Among these hybrids, ‘NIAB GOHAR’ (NBH-2 (LBR7) x ‘Nagina’) and ‘NIAB JAUHAR’ (NBH-25 (LBR10 x ‘Roma’) were evaluated in a National Uniform Yield Trial conducted by the PARC National Coordinator (Horticulture) and in Distinctness Uniform Stability Studies (DUST) conducted by the Federal Seed Certification and Registration Department (FSC&RD) in Islamabad during 2015-16.
Both ‘NIAB GOHAR’ and ‘NIAB JAUHAR’ produce firm fruit with high yield (~40 t/ha), show moderate resistance to fruit borer and early and late blight, and are well-adapted to agroclimates in Punjab (Pakistan). The Punjab Seed Council has approved the hybrids for commercial cultivation.
Story and photos: Mansab Ali, Peter Hanson
Ten lines, four new varieties, and more to come in Bangladesh
WorldVeg tomato breeder Dr. Peter Hanson regularly sends breeding materials to research institutions worldwide, including the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI). Dr. Abu Masud, BARI tomato and cucurbit breeder, has been working with 10 WorldVeg tomato lines and reported on his progress:
Released varieties: We have released two varieties of tomato utilizing World Vegetable Center breeding lines. WorldVeg line AVTO 1010 has been released as a pure line variety under the name ‘BARI Tomato-18’ (for the winter season). ‘BARI Hybrid Tomato-10’ has been released as a summer variety; the female parent in this hybrid was AVTO 1006 and the male parent was line C41.
Proposed varieties: We soon expect to release two more varieties based on WorldVeg breeding lines. One is AVTO 1005 as a pure line variety for winter. A hybrid for summer (experimental name S12Hybrid-61) used AVTO 1005 as the female parent and C11 as the male parent.
I am hoping one or two more summer hybrids may come out from those 10 lines in the near future. I will be testing those selected hybrids in the 2018 summer season for further confirmation of their performance.
Thank you for providing BARI with these 10 lines. Our growers and consumers are getting a lot of benefits from WorldVeg materials.
Best regards,
Masud
