Research Project "OekoTom"

Organic breeding of outdoor tomatoes for the fresh market and processing

The outdoor tomato is to be established as a new crop in organic cultivation. Two pillars are being developed: 1. indeterminate tomatoes for the fresh market and 2. bush tomatoes for processing into juice, passata and ketchup. Organic breeding will provide new cultivars for 1. and the first prototypes for 2. Beyond this project, new open-pollinated cultivars will be selected and introduced with the regional value chain. Breeding research will create the methodological basis for designing organic breeding programmes based on genetic diversity. Methods are developed with growers to select for important characteristics such as taste, aroma, robustness and resistance to late blight. With processors, the suitability for juice, passata and ketchup is being researched. Through screening and breeding, root performance and symbiosis of the roots with mycorrhizal fungi are to be analysed and improved in order to breed particularly water- and nutrientefficient cultivars. In order to more effectively understand and breed for the various traits, some of which are complexly inherited, genome-wide association studies are used to identify promising genotypes including genetic resources as parents and to develop markers for marker-assisted selection. Excellent tomatoes, tomato products and seedlings from organic production are to convince growing consumer strata of the quality of organic agriculture and thus contribute directly and indirectly to its expansion. As the tomato is the most important vegetable in Germany, it also is a model crop.

Project partners: Leibniz-Institut für Pflanzenbiochemie, Culinaris, Voelkel, Solidarische Landwirtschaft Krefeld, Bingenheimer Saatgut, Naturkost Elkershausen, Netzwerk Solidarische Landwirtschaft, BIOPARK, Bioland, Demeter, Naturland