Evaluation of new large-fruited tomato hybrids in plastic greenhouses

The problem of saturating the Russian market with competitive domestic products remains relevant. The key factors in increasing the production of protected-ground vegetables are the expansion of production capacities and the introduction of high-yielding varieties and hybrids. To ensure the country's food security, it is necessary to use domestic tomato hybrids that combine a set of economically valuable traits, including high productivity, marketable fruits, and resistance to common diseases. Breeding activities aimed at creating large—fruited heterotic tomato hybrids are actively underway in the sector of breeding and seed production of nightshade crops of the ARRIVG – branch of the Federal State Budgetary Scientific Vegetable Center. Breeding work is underway to create hybrids for both the professional segment (ground greenhouses of farms and private farms) and the amateur segment. The results of the analysis of the characteristics of tomato hybrids made it possible to identify valuable characteristics in the breeding of large-fruited tomatoes. Traditionally, the traits used to select donor lines remain crucial: «fruit weight of 150 g or more,» «high yield,» and «disease resistance.» For professional hybrids, we also evaluate traits such as «fruit density,» «high standardization,» and «ability to produce fruit with high standardization and marketability throughout the growing season.» For tomato hybrids and varieties for the amateur market, the most important traits are «excellent taste,» «aroma,» and «high dry matter content.» When developing new hybrids for both professional and amateur markets, resistance donor lines (homozygotes for genes) were used to ensure resistance to various diseases. Selection based on these traits resulted in the large-fruited Afanasy F1 hybrid, resistant to three diseases and 53% higher yield than the standard Rumyany Shar F1.

Key words: tomato, breeding, hybrid combinations, large-fruited tomatoes, film greenhouses, testing, commercial yield, disease resistance