France
March 30, 2010
Increasing consumer interest in purchasing directly from producers (short-chain) underlines their preference for more authentic products with improved gustatory qualities. As for the producers, the lack of constraints with respect to transport, and the need for less intensive crop management methods, means that they are seeking for new varietal choices. Reorienting research towards varietal criteria that reconcile gustatory quality and satisfactory agronomic performance is the balance that the Alenya Roussillon Experimental Farm has tried to achieve.
The tomato is the second most frequently purchased vegetable in Europe, and during the past 15 years breeding has tended to focus on meeting the needs of distributors. The length of distribution chains, and storage conditions in particular, have contributed to rendering firmness the most important criterion, relegating the organoleptic qualities of products to being of secondary importance. Today, as consumers become increasingly keen on short distribution chains, new demands are developing, and notably the search for varieties with good gustatory quality that are also attractive in terms of their shape, colour and ease of preparation.
Until now, producers in this market segment tended to use older varieties because of their ability to respond to these emerging demands. But the lack of reliable agronomic references on the behaviour of tomato varieties constituted a brake on improvements to yield. This deficiency was recently underlined by an analysis of the behaviour of 43 varieties, carried out under different cultivation conditions ranging from the most intensive to the most extensive. Each variety was subjected to a series of tests that, amongst others, crossed yield and gustatory quality criteria.
The broad variety of tomato varieties corresponded to a broad diversity of results.
As a general rule, a moderate reduction in inputs enabled a gain in quality. Some old tomato varieties stood out from hybrids because of their good yields and gustatory quality, even under restricted inputs (of water and nutrients).
These findings offer new perspectives for research, notably regarding the genetic improvement of old varieties to enhanced their disease resistance. In Alenya, differences in susceptibility were observed with respect to powdery mildew and corky-root, two diseases to which tomatoes are particularly susceptible. In view of the varietal diversification developed by market gardeners selling direct to the public, the Alenya Roussillon Experimental Farm also intends to study the impact of crop rotations on the presence of soil-borne diseases.
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