Greenhouse tomato production represents 17% of the total tomato production in the US and a 30-40% increase is expected in the future. Greenhouse tomato varieties, used in production, were bred for northern European conditions and palates. While these varieties can produce a crop in US greenhouses, they are not selected for the warmer greenhouse environment or the US consumer. Because of the intensive cultivation in greenhouses, it is important to control pests and diseases. Recent advances in molecular biology have identified genomic regions responsible for several insect and disease resistant traits which are being transferred to field and processing tomatoes and should also be moved into greenhouse varieties. The overall objective is to identify promising greenhouse tomato varieties for North America and develop germplasm to use in breeding for insect, disease and organoleptic traits in greenhouse tomatoes.
Research Scientist:
Dr. Barbara Liedl
766-5767
