Breeding for yield and quality improvement in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) using genetic variability and modern genomic tools

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is one of the most important horticultural crops in the world, but its production continually grapples with difficulty of improving yield without compromising fruit quality. To achieve, this balance requires breeders to make full use of the wide genetic diversity present in cultivated varieties, landraces, and wild relatives. This review synthesises current knowledge on global production trends, genetic basis of key agronomic and quality characteristics, and central role of diversity in sustaining breeding progress. Traditional breeding approaches, such as mass selection, pedigree breeding, backcrossing, and hybrid development have long supported tomato improvement, but their impact has grown significantly with the integration of molecular tools. Advances in QTL mapping, marker-assisted selection, genomic selection, multi-omics technologies, and CRISPR-based editing now make it easier to carefully study complex traits and adjust them with greater accuracy and control. These tools also help broaden the narrow genetic base created by domestication bottlenecks, allowing beneficial alleles from wild germplasm to be reintroduced into elite lines. Looking ahead, climate-smart breeding, high-throughput phenotyping, pangenomics, and farmer-participatory approaches offer promising pathways for developing cultivars that combine high yield, superior flavour and nutrition, and resilience to environmental stresses. Sustained exploitation of genetic variability therefore remains the foundation for meeting future productivity and quality demands in tomatoes.