The fight against Tobamovirus has a new ally. Top Seeds has launched Carlitos, a new material that shows very good behaviour against ToBRFV. This has been proved by the different trials carried out on crops in Murcia and Almeria.
It is a loose tomato for harvesting either green or red, with G-GG calibre. It has slightly flattened fruit that can be picked without the stalk and it works well for spring and autumn sowing.
Eva Mª Jerez, a sales technician, describes some of Carlitos’ characteristics: “in addition to standing up to ToBRFV due to its resistances, it tolerates the heat and it changes colour and size very well.”
This will be its first commercial year. “In Níjar and La Cañada, seeds have already been planted in several farms for testing. Additionally, during the development phase, we have observed that it works very well when combined with Carbonite rootstock in crops in Nijar.”
Carbonite’s balance stands out. “It has very strong flowers; it encourages fruit on the wireframe until the end of the entire cycle and although it is very strong, it is not very vegetative. It has a long cycle and it stands up to falling fruit, giving quality tomatoes.” Its package of resistances completes the advantages of this rootstock that continues to see rising sales.
Another material that should be highlighted from Top Seeds’ tomato portfolio is Arondir, a fat plum tomato that is particularly firm. The Campomar agricultural school carried out a post-harvest study that confirms this. A very early variety, with a plum shape from start to finish, Arondir bears very high commercial quality fruit for short cycles in the spring and autumn.
Parallel to this, the seed company has a fat plum tomato under development for spring sowing, under netting, in high areas of Granada and Malaga. Eva Mª Jerez advances that it is a strong variety, bearing kilos of fruit, with good calibre and very good setting in hot conditions. “It won’t be long before it is on the market.”
And the fact is that Top Seeds’ activity is unstoppable. “This year we are going to have demonstration farms in strategic areas where all our tomato varieties, prototypes and specialities will be displayed, as well as rootstock with ToBRFV, etc. We will also have demonstration farms for peppers with resistance to nematodes.
