It's unusual for the Trial Station to conduct a variety trial in tomato cultivation in April, but this year is an exception. The breeding of new varieties with resistance to ToBRFV is progressing rapidly. To expedite the practical implementation of these new varieties, the Tomato Technical Committee decided that a second variety trial in unlit cultivation could be conducted if new, interesting tomato varieties with resistance emerged. This allows for sufficient information to be gathered about these varieties to include them in the evaluation for the Flandria segmentation, and that has now occurred.
New variety trial with resistant tomato varieties planted
A new variety trial with resistant tomato varieties has been planted. With funding from LAVA, in mid-April, two new varieties of loose tomatoes and three new varieties of cluster tomatoes were planted, both at the Vegetable Cultivation Trial Station and at the Hoogstraten Trial Center. For this, a section of a tomato crop had to be cleared at the Trial Station. The varieties are located in a separate crane bay, allowing irrigation to be tailored to the young plants.
For the loose tomatoes, Tobinaro is being compared with two new varieties from Axia Vegetable Seeds. HTR 2432019 is a Prince-type, and HTR 2432020 is a beef tomato related to Maxibel, a variety that was trialed at the practice centers in 2018.
For the cluster tomatoes, Bronski serves as the reference variety, and 22K951744 (Rijk Zwaan), HTR 2432015 (Axia Vegetable Seeds) related to Speedax, and TIAC 24-0332 (Syngenta) are being tested.
Axia Vegetable Seeds and Rijk Zwaan claim HR resistance to ToBRFV for their varieties. Syngenta also indicates that their variety has resistance to ToBRFV. It should be clarified that these varieties are not being tested in combination with a ToBRFV infection; the resistance claims are provided by the respective seed houses.
The trial will monitor the production, plant, and fruit characteristics of these varieties until the end of the cultivation in November. The results will be evaluated against the KO criteria for the Flandria segmentation.
For more information:
Vegetable Cultivation Trial Station
Duffelsesteenweg 101
2860 Sint-Katelijne-Waver
Tel: +32 (0)15 / 30 00 60
www.proefstation.be