In tomato breeding, China needs all the innovation it can get

By Meng Zhu, Regional Crop Lead for Tomato Fresh and Pepper in China

China is a key player in the global tomato industry, producing millions of tons of tomatoes every year, contributing significantly to the global supply.

In China, tomato growers face a multitude of diseases due to the prevalent low and mid-tech cultivation methods and climate conditions. Fungal diseases such as Late Blight ,Botritis and  Stemphylium , bacterial diseases like Bacterial wilt, Bacterial Canker and Bacterial Speck, and virus diseases such as Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus (TYLCV) , Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (TSWV) and the Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus (ToBRFV) belong to the challenges of our growers. Therefore, we strive to provide a comprehensive resistance package to address these disease pressures effectively. 

However, we also understand that taste is increasingly crucial for Chinese consumers. This breeding focus has gotten stronger since cultivation is more spread out throughout the country. Previously, when there were only a few growing hotspots, crops had to travel such long distances that breeders could not compromise on shelf-life and transportability for better taste.

Additionally, labor scarcity is a growing concern as the younger generation tends to move into the cities and seek employment outside agriculture. So, add varieties that are easier to manage and harvest and require less crop protection – which has to be applied by workers – to the mix of breeding challenges we face.

In a nutshell: When you work on new seed varieties that cater to the Chinese market, you have to consider all this at the same time. I am proud of our breeding teams who manage to do that and support China as one of the top tomato growers worldwide.