BASF | Nunhems: Interview with Juan Sastre Ferrus, EMEA Tomato processing Crop Lead

Could you please introduce yourself and your role at Nunhems / BASF Vegetable Seeds?

Juan Sastre Ferrus, EMEA Tomato processing Crop Lead, on Behalf of Tomato processing BASF Nunhems Team

How has the acquisition by BASF changed the way the company works, particularly for Nunhems’ processing tomato business?

Nunhems has been working on Tomato processing Breeding for more than 40 years. Under BASF we have gained resources to accelerate the response to market needs, indeed, our fastest growth has been in the last ten years, most of them under BASF umbrella

What are Nunhems’ biggest markets in terms of tomatoes for processing globally? Are there any emerging regions where you see significant growth potential?

Our biggest markets on tomato processing are in EMEA area, in particular, Italy, Spain, Turkiye, Poland, Ukraine and Russia. Gaining share in important markets as: USA and China

As for emerging markets, we might consider:

1. Middle East area, shifting from Tomato Bush with double aptitude Fresh and process, to purely tomato processing specific varieties adapted to mechanical harvesting.
2. Central Africa and the Africa horn, there are some developments in South Africa, Nigeria, Ghanna, Senegal,….

What are the main axes for breeding tomatoes for processing? What are the key priorities for your R&D teams (e.g., yield, Brix, color, viscosity, firmness, disease resistance, uniformity, peelability, crack resistance)?

Main axes:

1. Mechanical Harvesting, linked to field holding and fruit firmness
2. Yield and plant balance,
3. Fruit Quality, based on market segments demands, Brix, Color, Viscosity, Ph,…
4. Resistance to Biotic Stresses, Disseasse and Pest resistance package
5. Resistance to Abiotic Stresses, Heat tolerance, and following our varieties under drought and salty conditions.

Could you walk us through the typical timeline from an initial cross to a commercially available processing tomato seed variety? What are typically the most challenging stages in this process?

Assuming we have in house the traits we consider 6-8 years to go to commercial, but for purely novelty traits that we need to incorporate in our genetics it might take longer depending on markers available to avoid going to the field in early stages.

Main challenge is to find the sources to particular trait and then introgression in the parental lines, then to identify markers that allow us to make the preliminary selection before to go in crosses, and after going to field evaluations and validation.

What are the most significant challenges unique to processing tomato cultivation (e.g., mechanical harvesting, specific disease pressures, water stress, heat stress) that your varieties are specifically designed to address?

All new developments must be mechanically harvested, firmness and holding onto plant are key to mechanical harvesting them.

About specific topics, those are depending on particular areas:

• Spain, yield, heat setting, holding on plant and F3 resistance, this last one becoming more relevant

• Italy South and Turkey, TSWV is basic, but also yield, heat setting, holding on plant

• Others as Nematodes and V are Basic and Bacterial spp, Late blight, Early blight,…… are being introduced depending on markets targets.

Are you developing varieties tailored for specific end products (e.g., high-Brix paste, diced tomatoes, whole peeled tomatoes, ketchup)? How do these varieties differ in their characteristics?

Peeled tomato largest market is Italy South, where we are market leader and it is preferred varieties a bit more elongated, while for paste, shape is more round-blocky. For diced we can use both blocky and elongated, selecting varieties with thicker wall, but there is a wider bunch of varieties that might be used,

We are present in the Cherry market and new typologies with higher taste after process, but all those must be managed differently and paid with some extra to compensate for lower yields.

The same happened with high-Brix, normally yield is lower than the conventional and not always the extra price compensates for the lack of yield.

In any case, we are in continuous interaction with processors to understand the future needs and anticipate the solutions

How do the demands from growers in key regions like Italy compared to those in other major processing tomato countries, such as California? Are there significant differences in desired traits or cultivation needs?

Cultivation is basically the same, but plant requirements are completely different, if we take the major markets as Italy, Spain, California the leading varieties are completely different due to the local needs.

Regarding product presentations, Italy is one step ahead than all the rest, they don’t do just paste, they go step more, “passata”, “polpa”, …. In peeled Italy do mostly with elongated tomatoes while the rest California and Spain use blockys  for that purpose. California is more demanding in Viscosity than the rest.

What new challenges are emerging due to climate change in processing tomato cultivation? In this context, what specific characteristics are you breeding into new varieties to enhance resilience (e.g., heat tolerance, drought tolerance, extended harvest windows, salinity tolerance)?

Among the listed, some are basic for us,

• Heat tolerance, with two considerations, at setting to grant the potential yield and field holding to maintain the fruit characteristics at harvest moment, minimizing sunscald, and other disorders

• Drought tolerance, although we don’t breed for this particular trait, we are conducting test to measure the Kg harvested/ m3 used, what we called water efficiency

• Extended harvest window, being basic since it’s linked to total yield. Our varieties are characterized by wider harvest window, granting a high yielding potential.

• Salinity, not specific work but testing our new hybrids under those environments to grant certain yield

With rising input costs and a focus on sustainable agriculture, how do your genetics contribute to optimizing resource use for the farmer (e.g., nutrient use efficiency, water use efficiency, reduced need for certain crop protection inputs)?

In this context, although our genetics may help, we are working together with Hort@ to develop a DSS, generic or parametrized with specific BASF Nunhems varieties, based on trials and validation tests in different markets. As has been mentioned above, every variety has its own particularities and with the DSS we can maximize the output and field performance. With Agrigenio we can predict crop changes that allow us to make a more efficient use of the Crop protection inputs.

What major global market and consumer trends are currently influencing your processing tomato seed development strategy?

About global market, Climate change, max temperatures are raising, but also heat waves are becoming more frequent, so heat tolerance is a must in most of our working areas, even the Northern ones as Poland, Ukraine,…. This is very much linked with yield potential.

At processor level, Color, Brix and Viscosity remains basic with premium prices for producers, depending on the area and year needs

Referring to consumer trends, there are more and more processors looking for diversification, in product presentation, combination, or mixed with other vegetables, meat,….. We are always in discussions and partnerships to improve consumer experience

Looking further ahead, where do you see the future of processing tomato genetics heading in the next 5-10 years, both in terms of desirable traits and the breeding methodologies used to achieve them?

We are convincing that current assortment would not be enough to heat setting in all the areas, we need to increase it in every location from Central Africa to Ukraine, combined with plant performance in different environments with specific and wider resistances or traits combinations.

We are applying the most advanced techniques to go faster in the trait introgression into parental lines

Is there any other key message or innovation regarding processing tomatoes that you’d like to share with our audience today?

“We are ready and grateful to build the future together with you”