India: Tomatoes outsmart global warming

Researchers from Kakatiya and Osmania Universities have successfully developed tomato varieties that are able to cope with increasing temperatures and withstand the onslaught of various pests.

They have produced a variety of "smart" tomatoes that can survive in drought conditions and in soils affected by salinity.

Mr N. Rama Swamy, working with the Kakatiya University, teamed up with M. Praveen, from the Ohio State University, to develop salt tolerant tomatoes. Thanks to persistent drought and the indiscriminate use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides, fields in many places have turned either saline or alkaline.

The researchers induced salt tolerance in tomato after molecular cloning, making the tomato variety capable of growing in saline and drought prone areas. In separate research, a team comprising S. Anil Kumar, P. Hima Kumari and P. B. Kavi Kishor from the department of genetics, of the Osmania University, developed the variety that can effectively resist various fungal pathogens.

Tomatoes are usually attacked by various fungal pathogens causing wilt. They used Osmotin and Chitinase genes to make the tomato resistant to pests, which reduces the use of artificial pesticides.

Source: www.deccanchronicle.com