TOMATO VARIETIES-DO WE NEED SO MANY ?
Gardeners and seed trade colleagues often ask me the same question: “Do we really need all these different varieties of tomatoes?” My answer is always: “Yes we do!” I firmly believe that plant selection and breeding is a key human activity, developed since mankind first settled the Euphrates and Tigris valleys more than 7000 years ago. The focus of those early plant breeders was cereals whereas today we work on nearly all agricultural and horticultural crops.
Recent developments in tomato breeding in all types, from bush cherries to ultra-beefsteaks, have generated many new varieties, but are they all garden
