A webinar will cover the basics on April 20th at 12 pm Pacific time
Organic Seed Alliance (OSA) and partners of the Tomato Organic Management and Improvement Project (TOMI) have announced recently two new tools to help growers produce tomato seed using organic practices.
The new Tomato Seed Production Guide, and an accompanying webinar on April 20, 2021, Growing Organic Tomato Seed: A How-To Virtual Training, provide practical information for growers interested in producing high-quality tomato seed for their own farm or to sell commercially. These resources are applicable to growers of all scales.
According to the US Department of Agriculture data, tomatoes are the fourth largest organic vegetable crop by sales, demonstrating the popularity of this iconic summer crop. Organic growers are required to use organic seed unless commercially unavailable, which means as demand for organic food grows, so too does the demand for organic seed to help growers meet this regulatory requirement.
The Tomato Seed Production Guide offers readers a comprehensive resource for growing organic tomato seed from start to finish, beginning with the history of tomatoes, the various types and fruit colors, as well as the lifecycle and biology. The guide outlines climatic requirements and how to select for desired traits, which includes recommendations for isolation distances to maintain genetics and population sizes.
The April 20th webinar will take place from 12:00 – 1:00 pm Pacific Time. Participation is free but pre-registration is required at the link below. TOMI partners Laurie McKenzie and Jared Zystro from OSA, and Plant Pathologist Dan Egel from Purdue University, will provide a summary of recommendations in the guide – including tomato biology, climatic requirements, genetic maintenance, disease management, and how to harvest, clean, and store tomato seed – while answering questions from participants.