Tainan, Taiwan
October 2012

Source: AVRDC - The World Vegetable Center newsletter

Fiji’s Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) Sigatoka Research Station recently presented the first tomato field trial conducted in partnership with AVRDC – The World Vegetable Center and the Secretariat of Pacific Community (SPC).

Seed suppliers, hoteliers, research extension staff and farmers were invited to view the tomato variety trial and participate in a taste test.

The variety trial initially was set up to evaluate disease tolerance and suitability for Fiji’s tropical environment. Hotel chefs from the Shangri-la Fijian Resort provided valuable information regarding their purchase preferences and suggested several lines that they would like to see grown in Fiji, including cherry tomato CLN2071D.

“I prefer this variety,” said one of the chefs.

“I would like to be able to buy this for the hotel, as it would look good in a salad.” CLN2071D performed particularly well in terms of disease tolerance in the field.

The uniform shape of CLN315A-5 also caught the chefs’ attention.

The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) is funding the project to evaluate various AVRDC bred lines of tomatoes and other solanaceous crops as part of its effort to strengthen the integration of high-value crop management research in the Pacific Islands. Similar trials are being conducted in Solomon Islands, Tonga and Samoa.

Website: https://avrdc.org/

Published: October 25, 2012