Arka Rakshak: High yielding triple disease resistant tomato F1 hybrid with export potential Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is the second most important vegetable crop in India next only to potato. In India, it is cultivated over an area of 8.79 lakh hectares with a production of 182.26 lakh tonnes. The average productivity is about 20.7 tonnes per hectare. Andra Pradesh, Odissa, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Chhatishgarh and Gujarat are the major tomato-growing states in India. In recent years the occurrence of major diseases such as Tomato leaf curl virus (ToLCV), bacterial wilt (BW) and early blight (EB) have become very serious causing considerable yield loss in major tomato growing areas of the country. Due to ToLCV, yield loss has been reported up to 70-100% depending on the stage of attack, bacterial wilt has been reported to cause yield loss up to 70%, where as, early blight has become very serious on foliage and fruits causing yield loss up to 50-60%. DSCF1192 2 Leaf curling due toToLCV Sudden wilting due to BW Scan790 DSC01838 Concentric rings- symptoms on leaf & fruits due to EB Adoption of multiple disease resistant tomato variety / F1 hybrid is the most practical way to combat these serious diseases as no chemical application can effectively control them. Research efforts were carried out for several years at Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), Bangalore and a high yielding tomato F1 hybrid “Arka Rakshak” was bred with triple disease resistance to ToLCV + BW + EB by crossing an advanced breeding line bred at IIHR with another breeding line bred at Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (AVRDC), Taiwan. This is the first multiple disease resistant public bred tomato F1 hybrid released for commercial cultivation in the country. Interdisciplinary approach involving a breeder, virologist, bacteriologist, pathologist and molecular biologist was successfully adopted to breed Arka Rakshak . Further efforts are on the way to introgress late blight resistance genes in to Arka Rakshak back ground through Marker Assisted Breeding. Salient Features of Arka Rakshak Arka Rakshak: A High yielding F1 hybrid with triple disease resistance to tomato leaf curl virus, bacterial wilt and early blight. Plants are semi-determinate with dark green foliar cover. Fruits are oblong with light green shoulder. Fruits are medium to large size (80-100g), deep red, very firm with good keeping quality (15-20 days) and long transportability. Bred for both fresh market and processing. Suitable for summer, kharif and rabi seasons. Yields 90-100 tons per hectare in 140-150 days. Arka Rakshak- High yielding triple disease resistant F1 hybrid with excellent fruit quality attributes Updated on 01.08.2014
