Breeding "Cherry" and "Cocktail" tomato F1 hybrids possessing multiple disease resistance

Cherry and "cocktail" tomatoes have remarkable popularity in Russia. Botrytis cinerea, Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), Cladosporium fulvum, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici, Phytophthora infestans and Oidium lycopersici are the most damaging pathogens causing severe tomato yield decreases. Breeding for the "cherry" and "cocktail" tomato F, hybrids began at the All-Russian Scientific Institute of Vegetable Growing (VNIIO) as a collateral project of a breeding program for resistance to O. lycopersici at the beginning of the 1990s. An ample number of interspecific hybrids were obtained using Lycopersicon pimpinellifolium, L. hirsutum var. glabratum, L. esclentum var. cerasiforme, and L. cheesmanii var. minor. A large number of lines, cultivars and hybrids from other countries were tested to estimate their potential for the creation of "cherry" and "cocktail" tomato F, hybrids with multiple disease resistance. Ten lines were resistant to the 5 diseases under conditions of artificial and natural infection.