A breakthrough in the breeding of indeterminate tomatoes in Israel, enabling improvement in quality and yield while reducing breeding costs

Hazera Genetics Ltd. is launching this year a first variety of tomato that is resistant to TYLCV and is designed for greenhouse breeding. The launch of this first variety, Tracie, represents a genuine breakthrough in the breeding of indeterminate tomatoes in Israel. It will be possible to breed tomatoes for the first time in Israel in open, ventilated greenhouses during the summer season, thereby cutting costs while at the same time improving the quality of the fruit and level of yield by comparison with existing varieties.

The TYLCV virus has caused severe damage to tomato breeding in Israel ever since the beginning of the 1980s. Since the outbreak of the epidemic, no tomato variety was found that was resistant to it, and the usual agro-technical measures to combat white fly (the insect responsible for spreading TYLCV) – such as pesticides, glue traps and more – had only limited effectiveness. As a result of this situation, the volume of tomatoes grown outdoors was drastically reduced in favor of breeding tomatoes in hermetically closed greenhouses to protect against white fly. In a hot country like Israel, this method of breeding inevitably produces a variety of limitations resulting from excessive heat and humidity (direct damage to the fruit set, damage to fertilizing insects, promotion of fungal diseases and more).

The Tracie variety underwent trials in greenhouse and outdoor conditions in Israel, Spain, Greece under great pressure of infection with TYLCV. It has been found to be highly resistant to the virus. Extensive experiments are also currently being performed on the variety in Mexico and Brazil. The special advantage of the variety for the Israeli market is that it may be grown outdoors as well as in hothouses that are not hermetically closed. This makes breeding cheaper and thus reduces costs. Furthermore, since sealed hothouses may be opened and ventilated during the hot seasons, there is less need for treatment and use of pesticides required to treat damage such as fungal diseases, which are one of the primary problems in closed hothouses.

Dr. Ron Acker, the breeder of the variety, states: “In addition to the Tracie variety’s high resistance to the TYLCV virus, it also has several other important advantages, including: early ripening and high yield; high quality, ball-shaped fruit in the style of beef tomatoes weighing 200-300 grams, firm, with a good red color and no green shoulders; and excellent maintenance of fruit size throughout a long-lasting growing season.

At the same time as it launched the variety in Israel, Hazera Genetics also embarked on a parallel launch of the variety in Spain, and Greece. In Spain, where the TYLCV epidemic has been particularly virulent, farmers have already been using various resistant varieties for a number of years. However, the Tracie’s exceptionally high level of resistance, together with its high yield even under difficult conditions of infection, assure it of a marked advantage over existing varieties. In Greece the TYLCV epidemic is more recent. Hence Hazera Genetics’ early entry into those markets with a top quality, resistant variety is of the utmost significance and will enable Hazera to increase its market share over more conventional varieties.

Dr. Alon Haberfeld, Product Director, Tomatoes stated: “We are endeavoring on an ongoing basis to develop new varieties and enter markets with high potential. High prices can be earned in the various markets from sales of this variety, so that within a few years we should be able to achieve sales volumes totaling several million dollars.”

Related article
By Eli Daniel
Haaretz.com via Paperboy, Harris Moran

Seed breeder Hazera Genetics yesterday launched the world's first tomato strain that is immune to Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus.

The resistant tomato, fondly known as Tracie, is a breakthrough for tomato farmers, especially ones cultivating the long-lived species that thrive over long periods, not necessarily in specific seasons. In Israel, it means the resistant breed can be grown in open, ventilated hothouses throughout the summer, which will reduce costs and improve the quality of the fruit, as well as the size of the total crop, compared with conventional breeds.

Based on a price of $20,000 to $30,000 per kilo of seed, the company believes it will reach sales of $1 million next year, and $5-7 million within three to four years, according to Dr. Alon Haverfeld, who manages Hazera's tomato seeds division.

Tomato Yellow Lead Curl Virus, or TYLCV, is a hard one for Israeli tomato farmers. No resistant strains have been found since the plague first erupted in the 1930s. The regular insecticides used to decimate the bugs carrying the virus proved ineffective at preventing its spread. The result has been to severely truncate the cultivation of tomatoes in open fields in favor of hermetically sealed hothouses, protected against the carrier, the Bemesia tabaci whitefly. In a hot country like Israel, cultivation in sealed hothouses creates serious problems of overheating and moisture.

TYLCV affects tomato crops throughout the Mediterranean region, the Middle East and the tropical areas of Africa and central America. Sick plants produce no or small fruit.

Hazera says the Tracie strain has been tested and found resistant not only in Israel but in Spain, Greece and Egypt. At present, it is undergoing extensive testing in Mexico and Brazil. Hazera also means to launch the Tracie in Spain, Greece and Egypt.

The agent behind TYLCV is a kind of Gemini virus, so called because the germ appears in twinned pairs of incomplete icosahedra. Aside from the whitefly as a disease-carrying agent, the germ can also live in weeds. The first symptom of the disease, appearing within two to three weeks of infection, is that the leaves begin to curl at the edges and turn yellowish and rubbery.

Hazera Genetics' first-quarter sales were NIS 63.2 million, up 26 percent from the parallel quarter. It netted NIS 3.6 million in the quarter.