Research adviser: Allen Van Deynze
Team Leader: Luis Salazar - lasalazar@ucdavis.edu
Many organic growers and seed producers strongly desire open-pollinated cultivars that can be propagated via self-pollinated seed, which is not possible with F1 hybrid varieties that are produced by large commercial seed companies. Furthermore, commercial F1 hybrid tomato cultivars have not been bred for organic production environments, and some contain transgenes that are not permitted under USDA organic certification rules. In 2015, the SCOPE project initiated an inbred tomato breeding project. In 2020, the tomato team added a new hybrid tomato breeding program to aid students in learning how a hybrid breeding program functions and to provide growers with F1 hybrids developed specifically for organic production. The team is working to develop both open-pollinated and hybrid heirloom-like varieties with improved agronomic and horticultural traits, such as higher marketable yield, reduced fruit cracking, disease resistance, and better growth habit, while maintaining the excellent flavor and unique appearances that heirloom tomatoes are known for. The SCOPE project at UC Davis has partnered with UC Santa Cruz and the Organic Seed Alliance to develop determinate heirloom-type tomatoes suitable for coastal dryland farming, and with Dr. Priti Saxena at Cal Poly Pomona to breed varieties that are suitable for greenhouse production and the dry heat of both northern and southern growing regions of California.