Enza Zaden bringing virus-resistant varieties to growers

Added on 10 May 2023

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Enza Zaden bringing virus-resistant varieties to growers

Enza Zaden is now offering 18 varieties of tomatoes under the High Resistance by Enza Zaden (HREZ) brand to help growers deal with tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV). The varieties are available in all significant tomato types, and do not compromise on taste, yield, or quality.

Until now, the only controls against ToBRFV have been strict phytosanitary measures, such as more frequent crop rotations and extra cleaning, resulting in higher labor costs. Now, High Resistance from Enza Zaden (HREZ) offers growers a vital tool to tackle this devastating disease.

The growing collection of HREZ varieties is available in roma, beef, grape, cherry, cocktail, and tomatoes- on-the-vine (TOV) tomato types. As the varieties complete their first season of commercial production in The Netherlands, Mexico, Canada, and other key production regions, their strong performance has led to better quality and yield.

While resistant varieties are not a substitute for good phytosanitary controls, they provide additional confidence to growers. This is partly due to the unique resistance identified in HREZ varieties, which actively blocks progression of the virus in the plant under normal virus pressure. After the virus enters a HREZ tomato plant and starts replicating, the plant defense system will be activated. As a result, the infected cell will be killed, thereby preventing the disease from spreading.