Tomato grows redder

Farmers in Himachal Pradesh will soon be growing a hybrid tomato variety that is larger, redder and highly resistant to diseases.

Scientists of the department of vegetables at the Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry near Solan in Himachal Pradesh have come up with this hybrid tomato.

The Solan hills produce the bulk of the hill state's tomato and the region is also called the "tomato bowl" of the state.

"Called 'garima', this tomato has a 20 per cent higher yield and also weighs far more than traditional varieties grown in the region," said Arun Joshi, a senior scientist at Parmar University, some 60 km from here.

"Tomato is a highly perishable vegetable and lasts barely three to five days, often causing losses to farmers. But this hybrid variety lasts at least a fortnight, giving enough time for the farmer to reach markets far and wide," claimed Joshi.

"This new variety is highly resistant to tomato diseases like 'septoria' and 'alternaria', among others, which often cause huge losses to farmers," he said.

Scientists say 'garima' (or the new hybrid tomato) is most suited for the mid and lower hills of the country.

"We will soon start producing seeds of the new variety," said the University Vice-Chancellor, Jagmohan Singh. "We are all set to give competition to the private sector, which has a monopoly over hybrid tomatoes. Besides it isn't often easily available to farmers in the villages," Singh said.

"In fact this is the first hybrid tomato in the public sector so far in the entire country," claimed Singh.