Participatory Tomato Breeding for Virus Resistance in Central America

Most of the tomato seeds of cultivars planted in Central America are imported. The imported hybrid cultivars are often adapted to large-scale, high-input environments. Long-term investments required for breeding programs often preclude efforts in Central America to provide high-quality, low-cost seeds to small-scale farmers. In Central America, as well as other tropical countries, production losses up to 100% can occur due to geminiviruses transmitted by the white fly, Bemisia tabaci, in a persistent, circulative manner. Control of the whitefly vector often requires repeated applications of insecticides that may reduce the population size but also increase costs and selective pressure for resistance, frequently exacerbated by continuous sowing cycles.  In participatory plant breeding with women's cooperatives in Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala and in collaboration with local NGO's, we evaluated geminivirus resistant cultivars developed by the World Vegetable Center, Taiwan, ROC, which have the potential to provide a more sustainable solution for small-scale, rural farmers to reduce economical, environmental, and health risks. Different breeding lines were identified as superior by women's cooperatives in different regions reflecting variation in production environments and preferences in local markets.