1Department of Plant Pathology, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bangalore-560065.
2Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, Chatham Maritime, Kent ME4 4TB, UK.
3Asian Vegetable Research and Development center, Taiwan.
Abstracts of the papers presented at the 16th Annual Convention and International Symposium of Indian Virological Society on “Management of Vector-Borne Viruses” at International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheru-502324, Hyderabad, India, February 7–10, 2006.
Tomato leaf curl virus disease and its whitefly vector, Bemisia tabaci, are the most serious constraints to tomato production in Karnataka and also in most other tomato growing regions of India. A “breakthrough” technology has been developed to combat this devastating problem. Three semi-determinate open pollinated leaf curl virus resistant tomato varieties namely, Sankranthi, Nandi and Vybhav were developed through a farmer participatory breeding programme. These three tomato varieties represent a significant achievement in tackling this problem, because they are high yielding and highly resistant to virus as well as possessing tolerance to bacterial wilt and high temperatures. Breeder seed of the varieties has been purchased by sixteen commercial seed companies, who are currently using it in their breeding programmes to produce virus resistant tomato hybrids. Integrated pest management technologies have also been developed for growing susceptible tomato varieties and hybrids. More information can be found by visiting the website www. tomatoleafcurl andwhitefly.org. Although host resistance has provided some relief for farmers, the geminivirus threat is still substantial and the spread of the B. tabaci B biotype, coupled with the geminivirus diversity in India, could lead to the rapid breakdown of resistance. Future efforts, therefore, should be directed towards pyramiding multiple disease and whitefly resistant genes into tomatoes, whilst maintaining fruit quality and other traits required by growers.
