Vegetable breeder says new tomato varieties bring high resistance to virus

Vegetable breeder Enza Zaden is touting 18 new tomato varieties with high resistance to Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus (ToBRFV), giving growers another tool to combat the disease.

The Netherlands-based company says 1,000 hectares of High Resistance by Enza Zaden (HREZ) varieties have been successfully cultivated around the world. The varieties are completing their first season of commercial production in The Netherlands, Mexico, Canada and other key production regions, according to a news release.

HREZ varieties are available in all significant tomato types, including roma, beef, grape, cherry, cocktail and tomatoes-on-the-vine, the release said.

Enza Zaden said in the release that, until now, the only controls against ToBRFV had been strict phytosanitary measures, such as more frequent crop rotations and extra cleaning, resulting in higher labor costs. While resistant varieties are not a substitute for good phytosanitary controls, they provide additional confidence to growers, according to a news release.

The company said this is partly due to the unique resistance identified in HREZ varieties, which actively blocks progression of the virus in the plant under normal virus pressure. After the virus enters a HREZ tomato plant and starts replicating, the plant's defense system will be activated, killing the infected cell and preventing the disease from spreading, according to the release.  

“Just as islands are insulated from diseases and pests, HREZ varieties highly restrict virus accumulation. This is why HREZ varieties are named after islands around the world,” Enza Zaden Regional Marketing Manager Jean-François Thomin said in the release.

Thomin added that the HREZ varieties can help growers return to preferred planting dates and regular harvest cycles.

“In turn, growers, shippers and retailers can expect a return to predictable supply planning and consistent product quality,” he said.

The company said the effectiveness of the resistance was demonstrated in Dutch crops with HREZ varieties grown in greenhouses in areas known for high ToBRFV pressure. The same is true of commercial crops in Mexico and Canada, where growers are increasing their area of HREZ tomatoes this year as they become more familiar with the varieties, according to the release.

“As a company, our goal is to bring innovation and solutions to growers, and it is a privilege to be involved in the HREZ project that benefits not just growers, but the whole tomato supply chain, all the way to consumers,” Enza Zaden Mexico Commercial Director Antonio De Sainz said in the release.

“As a family business we have always stood shoulder-to-shoulder with partners in realizing our ambition of providing people all over the world with access to a wide range of healthy vegetables,” Enza Zaden CEO Jaap Mazereeuw said in the release. “We work to help producers grow. With HREZ we can help producers achieve reliable profitability while ensuring continuous supply of healthy vegetables.”