Introduction of new tomato varieties into American Samoa for the 1990s. Part 1

Introduction of new tomato varieties into American Samoa for the 1990s. Part 1

Pago, Pago Land Grant Program, American Samoa Community College, American Samoa Government American Samoa

1990

REP.TM-0823

Vegetables are in increasing demand in American Samoa. They are mainly imported from the United States and New Zealand. Because of American Samoa's remoteness from these sources, vegetable prices are high but quality is generally poor. The tomato is one vegetable not amenable to long-term storage and transport, but tomatoes are in particulatly high demand. Consequently, tomato commands a good market price and is recognized by local farmers as a good cash crop despite many serious problems facing its production. These problems can be categorized as poor cultivation techniques and lack of appropriate varieties. Samoan farmers are familiar with the care of low-input traditional crops like banana, taro, and cocount where management techniques such as applying chemical fertilizers, mulching, staking, pruning, and pesticide application are little, if ever, used. But to produce high yields of good quality tomatoes, these skills must be applied. Techniques for growing tomatoes in the tropics are well documented by such institutions as the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (AVRDC), Taiwan, R.O.C. However, the local environment, pests, and available resources are sufficiently different to warrant extensive modificatin of the documented management practices before presenting them to farmers. Farmers have a limited number of tomato varieties and seed sources. The Land Grant Program currently supplies two varieties: King Kong and Vanguard (both from Known-You Seed Co., Taiwan). They are heat tolerant, disease resistant, and adapt well to the local environment. Their fruits are large and sell well. But they are indeterminate, vine-types that require intensive labor and pest control, so local farmers have difficulty growing them. Variety storges in American Samoa from the United States and New Zealand. These are usually not bred for the tropics, so they lack heat tolerance and disease resistance. Some farmers simply save seed from the fruit of hybrid varieties unaware that succeeding generations of tomato plants willlack uniformity and give poorer yields. One solutin to the lack of apropriate tomato varieties is to have a reliable source of hybrid seeds which include determinate, bush-type varieties with good heat tolerance and disease resistance, and informing farmers about gene segregation from hybrid parent plants. Another solution is to introduce self-pollinatin varieties that perform well in American Samoa so farmers can save seed for subsequent planting. This study will compare vine- and bush-type tomato varieties from Known-You Seed Co. and AVRDC. Those with high yield, good bacterial wilt resistance, and minimum-input management will be selected for further study. [AS]

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