Abstract
Improving tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L.) for higher yield, disease resistance, and better quality is required to make the tomato industry more attractive for tomato growers. Advanced breeding lines and hybrids of fresh market tomatoes were developed and evaluated in replicated yield trials with the objective of identifying superior inbred lines and hybrids in North Carolina. Numerous breeding lines and hybrids have been released from the North Carolina State University tomato breeding program. The objective of this review was to estimate the genetic gain achieved through breeding fresh market tomatoes for fruit yield and quality traits over the period from 1975 through 2009. No review on genetic gain has been performed for a fresh market tomato breeding program. This review describes the current status of fresh market tomato breeding and provides a foundation for future studies. Analysis of the data from replicated yield trials revealed that, although there was no genetic gain for total yield, a significant genetic gain in early marketable yield at the rate of 227 kg·ha−1 per year has been made. Average genetic gain of 3.1 g fruit weight/year increased until 2009. Total yield data indicated that fruit yield improvement potential may have reached a plateau, but there is potential to improve quality traits and disease resistance.
Published Version
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