Nepali farm develops disease, heat resistant tomato
Kathmandu, Nepal (AHN) – A Nepali farm specializing in producing organic vegetables has exclusively developed nine varieties of tomatoes it says are easily tolerant to disease and heat.
The tomatoes, named Srijana (“creation”), will be available in local markets of Kathmandu within a year, according to the proprietor, Bishnu Marahatta.
The owner of Gorkha Seed Company has been cultivating other vegetables in which he hopes to develop varieties with similar resistances. The research has taken place on a four-acre farm in Kathmandu. “The varieties we have developed are bacteria-resistant and withstand hot climate,” he added. “We will soon name those varieties.”
The farm has been extensively engaged in research for four years and has been producing and selling organic vegetables in the city’s markets, although not yet in commercial quantities.
“Now we have been also conducting research on new varieties of green-bow radish, Jyapu cauliflower and cucumber which are yielding encouraging results,” he claimed.
The farm also been able to increase the production capacity of each tomato plant, which could set a record. The new varieties can yield 30 kg per plant. The research is currently being undertaken at plots in Nakkhu of Lalitpur, in the Kathmandu Valley.
Typically, farmers growing the new varieties can easily produce at least 10 kg per plant even under adverse climatic conditions, with each tomato weighing up to 80 grams. Even if the temperature is as high as 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), they can be easily grown, a senior scientist at the company, Dr. Kedar Budhathoki, recently told the BBC.
“We are planning to export seeds of these varieties to India and Bangladesh where the climate is hot and the possibility of bacteria attack is high,” the owner, Marahatta, said. Seeds of hybrid tomatoes are selling for Rs 80,000 (US $1,200) to Rs 90,000 ( US $,350) per kilogram in the domestic market.
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