ToBRFV Resistant baby plums show promising trial results

You wouldn’t buy a new car that has the latest and greatest motor if it was missing the tyres and wheels. In the same way you shouldn’t buy a new tomato variety that has ToBRFV resistance, but is missing flavour, fruit quality and other disease resistances, according to Ruud Kaagman, Head of the Syngenta Global Tomato Crop Unit.

"Fortunately, new Syngenta baby plum tomatoes feature ToBRFV resistance, without compromising flavour," he reports.

“The rugose virus is impacting all tomatoes — but especially segments such as snacking tomatoes,” Ruud warned. He highlights that it is hugely important to find resistance in snacking tomatoes, such as baby plum, and now Syngenta has an answer for that premium market.

“Snacking tomatoes are something people have come to love” he reported.

“You can give your children these snacks and feel good because they’re healthy. Syngenta snacking tomatoes are just unique. They have a crunch and a great flavour balance of sweet and sour.”

Building on the legacy of innovation, including five varieties already with ToBRFV resistance*, the baby plum tomatoes nearing trial completion include fruit quality and disease resistance, along with most importantly flavour and eating experience required in this market.

Rik Lootens, Syngenta Portfolio Lead for Tomato and Blocky Pepper, Active Greenhouse and High-Tech Production, added: “We won’t launch an incomplete product that simply has ToBRFV resistance and lacking everything else."

"Our products bring the high qualities we’d expect, with ToBRFV resistance on top of it all,” he said.

Growers, advisors and their value-chain customers can stay up-to-date on the latest ToBRFV news with the dedicated Syngenta Vegetable Seeds website, with specific products best suited to the Benelux and UK markets with a dedicated website information centre.

*ToBRFV Resistance refers to Intermediate resistance: plant varieties that restrict the growth and/or development of the specified pest and/or the damage it causes but may exhibit a greater range of symptoms or damage compared to high resistant varieties. Intermediate resistant plant varieties will still show less severe symptoms or damage than susceptible plant varieties when grown under similar environmental conditions and/or pest pressure (International Seed Federation Definition).