Stronger Tomatoes in Florida

Salsacharley · January 7, 2015

From Maximum Yield Magazine Jan 2015

Scientists at the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences have produced three new virus-resistant, breeding lines of tomatoes. The new tomatoes are the results of a $2-million, 25-year research project. John Scott, professor of horticultural sciences and tomato breeder at the institute’s Gulf Coast Research and Education Center, says these new virus-resistant lines will eventually help farmers protect their crop against the tomato yellow leaf curl virus, which is transmitted by whiteflies and can cause total crop loss for farmers. “These tomatoes give breeders better options to breed more durable resistance, which will make it harder for the virus to mutate against,” says John. The researchers screened about 15,000 plants, taking tissue and DNA from each, to produce the three lines. Samuel Hutton, who worked with Scott on the study, says that ideally, farmers will use these breeding lines as parents to develop finished, marketable varieties.
(Source: alligator.org)

http://www.alligator.org/news/campus...32b08aeca.html

Cole_Robbie · January 7, 2015

Neat. Here's another article about them.

http://growingfl.com/features/2014/1...ksome-viruses/

At first it seems generous of the state to do that breeding work and just give it away to commercial seed companies. But if they can reduce a disease in the state, the improved harvest will increase economic activity and tax revenue, and theoretically make the state its money back.

b54red · January 8, 2015

I wonder if they have managed to breed out any more of the taste? That always seems to be the result of the new and improved hybrids. I would have loved them to spend that money figuring out a good way to control whiteflies. If you could control them easier the virus would not be as much of a problem would it? I would like to be able to control whiteflies on other crops such as beans and cucumbers.

Bill

peppero · January 8, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by b54red

I wonder if they have managed to breed out any more of the taste? That always seems to be the result of the new and improved hybrids. I would have loved them to spend that money figuring out a good way to control whiteflies. If you could control them easier the virus would not be as much of a problem would it? I would like to be able to control whiteflies on other crops such as beans and cucumbers.

Bill

Progress, sometimes one step forward and then one step back.

jon

elight · January 8, 2015

Unfortunately these sorts of things always seem geared toward commercial growers. Which makes sense, because it's a lot of money to spend on backyard gardeners who will never return that money to the state.

That being said, if it increases the Florida tomato industry and gives us better access to local produce, it's good for all of us. For the half of a year that I have to buy tomatoes at the store, I'd rather buy them from a Florida farm than from a California (or Canadian) one.

Ed of Somis · January 8, 2015

Interesting comment above about California and Canada. Funny you would pick those two. Uninformed people always seem to associate California with liberal Hollywood or L.A. Ironically, central and southern California has two of the largest agricultural growing areas in the world (San Joaquin and Imperial Valleys). My gosh, the state is nearly 800 miles long! I used to have pre-conceived ideas about New York...then I actually traveled there. Upstate NY is simply a gorgeous place. Nothing like NY city...which I had visions of. Supporting local businesses is a nice thing...just that most localities can not support their neighbors by themselves. They just don't have the means. In my little community...we try to buy local, but it is not always possible/practical.

heirloomtomaguy · January 8, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ed of Somis

Interesting comment above about California and Canada. Funny you would pick those two. Uninformed people always seem to associate California with liberal Hollywood or L.A. Ironically, central and southern California has two of the largest agricultural growing areas in the world (San Joaquin and Imperial Valleys). My gosh, the state is nearly 800 miles long! I used to have pre-conceived ideas about New York...then I actually traveled there. Upstate NY is simply a gorgeous place. Nothing like NY city...which I had visions of. Supporting local businesses is a nice thing...just that most localities can not support their neighbors by themselves. They just don't have the means. In my little community...we try to buy local, but it is not always possible/practical.

Absolutely agree. We grow nearly half of what this nation eats. Yeah we have places like Hollywood but if you drive 30 minutes northwest you will hit more strawberry and other produce farms than you know what to do with. The further north you drive the more farms you see....livestock included. Here is a link to a few stats on California. Note that California grows more tomatoes than anyone else in the nation too. http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/statistics/pd...tsOverview.pdf

travis · January 8, 2015

Did either of you two California tomato enthusiasts notice that Elight's location is Orlando, Florida, located a few sort miles from Plant City, and surrounded by extensive agricultural fields full of tomatoes and other fresh produce?

Do you fault him somehow for favoring local grown Florida tomatoes over those shipped all the way across the continent from California, or the ones grown in greenhouses in Canada?

Moreover, Florida tomato growers are under far different disease, pest, and climatic pressures; and tomatoes bred for Florida and other subtropical and tropical agriculture must address those specific and general stresses.

Is anyone out there in California breeding commercial tomatoes specifically addressing flavor and thinner skins, which can be grown in California climates and soil conditions without stress cracks, etc., unlike in Florida? Or is the California tomato culture more interested in producing canners :::smile::: than fresh market tomatoes?

That brings up another issue: Why is it every time someone introduces a discussion of improved commercial tomatoes, someone or two folks here have to say something like "they probably did it at the expense of flavor," or "they always breed even more flavor out of the tomato."

That was not the case with Tasti-Lee, which although I don't think it hits anywhere near the flavor profile of many already available commercial hybrids, at least the intent was to breed it specifically to enhance the flavor, increase the lycopene content, and extend the shelf life so that the variety can be harvested and delivered to the mass fresh market in a far more nearly ripe condition than previous shipping tomatoes.

There are other examples of recently released hybrid tomatoes, along with many more to come, particularly from the North Carolina State University, and Dr. Randy Gardner in particular, where the driving factors are flavor and lycopene content combined with disease and heat resistances. In fact, I think NCSU is way ahead of IFAS in these regards ... except for the TYLCV resistance.

However, I think the more important issue is that the tomato breeding lines discussed in the links from the original post, and the one immediately following it by Cole Robbie, is that IFAS has bred and is supplying pure breeding lines that will convey homozygous immunity to tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV), which is a huge problem in subtropical and tropical regions. The tomato lines also convey other commercially and grower friendly traits for the same climates and cultures.

For those of you who advocate organic growing systems, you should also be thrilled, especially if you grow in areas plagued by TYLCV, which is conveyed by sweet potato whiteflies ...

... keeping in mind, sweet potatoes also are a primary crop in many subtropical and tropical cultures, so the vector is present to infect tomato crops. With TYLCV resistant tomato cultivars, the tomato grower can grow his plants without chemical pesticides, or with less pesticides.

If you google the two or three Fla-numbered breeding lines, these new breeding lines, you may find pdf. slides showing side-by-side field grown examples of susceptible and resistant vines. The difference is dramatic. Good job, IFAS!

Fusion_power · January 8, 2015

This article has a bit more detail.

http://news.ifas.ufl.edu/2014/11/ufi...reeding-lines/

They had a very tough time breaking linkage for the mottle virus gene. I still have not found anything online about how they finally cracked it.

We are getting closer and closer to an assembled breeding line with stacked genes for dozens of different resistances. The days of VFNT tomatoes are rapidly coming to a close.

Fred Hempel · January 8, 2015

I am going to a field near Cabo in February, where I have a large grow-out of breeding material. I don't know how much of an issue TYLCV is there, but I am concerned.

While TYLCV is currently not a particularly pressing issue in CA, the increasing inter-connectedness of tomato growing in CA and Baja CA (Mexico) has me thinking about TYLCV, and I have started to try to create some lines with resistance.

I am definitely interested in the UF material.

elight · January 8, 2015

This is an interesting conversation, and one that I'm glad we're having! Everything else aside, those of us in North America are very fortunate that we have relatively easy access to almost any variety of food we want for most of the year. Not everyone (probably most) people on this planet don't have that luxury.

It always intrigues me when I see tomatoes in the supermarket with a Canada sticker on them. I think, if they can grow tomatoes up there, why can't we grow them in Florida? How is it cheaper to ship tomatoes from Canada than to grow them locally?

I don't have any disdain for California, Canada or anywhere else that grows food. I think it's great -- without them, most of the country wouldn't have a wide range of foods available to them for most of the year. And while the tomatoes certainly aren't going to taste anything like what those of us that hang out here would like, the alternative is to not have them at all for most of the year.

Which brings us to the issue at hand: local foods. On the one hand, eating locally cuts down on greenhouse gases (no shipping foods across the continent) and supports local farmers. On the other hand, it usually involves added expense as the local environment is not usually the ideal place to raise any particular crop (unless you live in California), meaning that local farmers usually can't operate as efficiently as the out-of-town competition, and also don't have the economies of scale that the large farms have. And I know for many people, spending extra money on food just do cut down on carbon emissions or support family farms is simply a luxury that they don't have. I totally get that.

I think it's great that we live in a place where people have the freedom to choose. If money is tight, and you need to buy the $1/pound tomatoes at the supermarket, that's fine. If you want to go to your local farmer's market and pay $5/pound for organic heirlooms, that's fine too. I just wish I saw more local growers around here... I've been to four different local farmer's markets, and have seen a total of 1 local grower - a mom and pop operation that grows various vegetables including an orange tomato variety (I asked what it was called, they didn't know), and some cherry tomatoes. The other vendors are just produce re-sellers, although some of their stuff is sourced locally. Very strange compared to my experiences in New York and Boston.

In any case, the lack of available local vegetables has motivated me to grow my own, which is also a good thing!

January 7, 2015	#1
Salsacharley Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: New Mexico Posts: 2,052	Stronger Tomatoes in Florida From Maximum Yield Magazine Jan 2015 Scientists at the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences have produced three new virus-resistant, breeding lines of tomatoes. The new tomatoes are the results of a $2-million, 25-year research project. John Scott, professor of horticultural sciences and tomato breeder at the institute’s Gulf Coast Research and Education Center, says these new virus-resistant lines will eventually help farmers protect their crop against the tomato yellow leaf curl virus, which is transmitted by whiteflies and can cause total crop loss for farmers. “These tomatoes give breeders better options to breed more durable resistance, which will make it harder for the virus to mutate against,” says John. The researchers screened about 15,000 plants, taking tissue and DNA from each, to produce the three lines. Samuel Hutton, who worked with Scott on the study, says that ideally, farmers will use these breeding lines as parents to develop finished, marketable varieties. (Source: alligator.org) http://www.alligator.org/news/campus...32b08aeca.html

January 8, 2015	#8
travis Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Evansville, IN Posts: 2,984	Did either of you two California tomato enthusiasts notice that Elight's location is Orlando, Florida, located a few sort miles from Plant City, and surrounded by extensive agricultural fields full of tomatoes and other fresh produce? Do you fault him somehow for favoring local grown Florida tomatoes over those shipped all the way across the continent from California, or the ones grown in greenhouses in Canada? Moreover, Florida tomato growers are under far different disease, pest, and climatic pressures; and tomatoes bred for Florida and other subtropical and tropical agriculture must address those specific and general stresses. Is anyone out there in California breeding commercial tomatoes specifically addressing flavor and thinner skins, which can be grown in California climates and soil conditions without stress cracks, etc., unlike in Florida? Or is the California tomato culture more interested in producing canners :::smile::: than fresh market tomatoes? That brings up another issue: Why is it every time someone introduces a discussion of improved commercial tomatoes, someone or two folks here have to say something like "they probably did it at the expense of flavor," or "they always breed even more flavor out of the tomato." That was not the case with Tasti-Lee, which although I don't think it hits anywhere near the flavor profile of many already available commercial hybrids, at least the intent was to breed it specifically to enhance the flavor, increase the lycopene content, and extend the shelf life so that the variety can be harvested and delivered to the mass fresh market in a far more nearly ripe condition than previous shipping tomatoes. There are other examples of recently released hybrid tomatoes, along with many more to come, particularly from the North Carolina State University, and Dr. Randy Gardner in particular, where the driving factors are flavor and lycopene content combined with disease and heat resistances. In fact, I think NCSU is way ahead of IFAS in these regards ... except for the TYLCV resistance. However, I think the more important issue is that the tomato breeding lines discussed in the links from the original post, and the one immediately following it by Cole Robbie, is that IFAS has bred and is supplying pure breeding lines that will convey homozygous immunity to tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV), which is a huge problem in subtropical and tropical regions. The tomato lines also convey other commercially and grower friendly traits for the same climates and cultures. For those of you who advocate organic growing systems, you should also be thrilled, especially if you grow in areas plagued by TYLCV, which is conveyed by sweet potato whiteflies ... ... keeping in mind, sweet potatoes also are a primary crop in many subtropical and tropical cultures, so the vector is present to infect tomato crops. With TYLCV resistant tomato cultivars, the tomato grower can grow his plants without chemical pesticides, or with less pesticides. If you google the two or three Fla-numbered breeding lines, these new breeding lines, you may find pdf. slides showing side-by-side field grown examples of susceptible and resistant vines. The difference is dramatic. Good job, IFAS! Last edited by travis; January 8, 2015 at 01:30 PM.

January 7, 2015	#2
Cole_Robbie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Illinois, zone 6 Posts: 8,407	Neat. Here's another article about them. http://growingfl.com/features/2014/1...ksome-viruses/ At first it seems generous of the state to do that breeding work and just give it away to commercial seed companies. But if they can reduce a disease in the state, the improved harvest will increase economic activity and tax revenue, and theoretically make the state its money back.

January 8, 2015	#3
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	I wonder if they have managed to breed out any more of the taste? That always seems to be the result of the new and improved hybrids. I would have loved them to spend that money figuring out a good way to control whiteflies. If you could control them easier the virus would not be as much of a problem would it? I would like to be able to control whiteflies on other crops such as beans and cucumbers. Bill

January 8, 2015	#5
elight Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Allentown, PA Posts: 349	Unfortunately these sorts of things always seem geared toward commercial growers. Which makes sense, because it's a lot of money to spend on backyard gardeners who will never return that money to the state. That being said, if it increases the Florida tomato industry and gives us better access to local produce, it's good for all of us. For the half of a year that I have to buy tomatoes at the store, I'd rather buy them from a Florida farm than from a California (or Canadian) one.

January 8, 2015	#6
Ed of Somis Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Somis, Ca Posts: 649	Interesting comment above about California and Canada. Funny you would pick those two. Uninformed people always seem to associate California with liberal Hollywood or L.A. Ironically, central and southern California has two of the largest agricultural growing areas in the world (San Joaquin and Imperial Valleys). My gosh, the state is nearly 800 miles long! I used to have pre-conceived ideas about New York...then I actually traveled there. Upstate NY is simply a gorgeous place. Nothing like NY city...which I had visions of. Supporting local businesses is a nice thing...just that most localities can not support their neighbors by themselves. They just don't have the means. In my little community...we try to buy local, but it is not always possible/practical.

January 8, 2015	#9
Fusion_power Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Alabama Posts: 2,250	This article has a bit more detail. http://news.ifas.ufl.edu/2014/11/ufi...reeding-lines/ They had a very tough time breaking linkage for the mottle virus gene. I still have not found anything online about how they finally cracked it. We are getting closer and closer to an assembled breeding line with stacked genes for dozens of different resistances. The days of VFNT tomatoes are rapidly coming to a close.

January 8, 2015	#10
Fred Hempel Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Sunol, CA Posts: 2,723	I am going to a field near Cabo in February, where I have a large grow-out of breeding material. I don't know how much of an issue TYLCV is there, but I am concerned. While TYLCV is currently not a particularly pressing issue in CA, the increasing inter-connectedness of tomato growing in CA and Baja CA (Mexico) has me thinking about TYLCV, and I have started to try to create some lines with resistance. I am definitely interested in the UF material.