Sakata’s tomato breeding station that is located at Sakata’s head office in Lanseria has recently added some new exciting varieties to the already well known indeterminate Salad tomatoes in the market. One of the main aspects of the Sakata varieties is that they are vigorous and fairly easy to manage. Irrigation and fertilizing is two very important factors that need to be managed when it comes to these varieties – especially not to over fertilize and irrigate at the early stage. Tomato producers should know that it is important to get good fruit set early on as this is beneficial for the entire crop cycle of the plant. Furthermore, having consistence in fruit set, both in number of fruit and fruit size is also very important.
Inga* is one of the newest indeterminate Salad varieties that comes out of the local programme and this variety is sure to make a difference in the market. Inga* is well adapted for local condition and good results were obtained under protection. The variety is characterized by outstanding fruit quality and uniform fruit size. The distribution of size for large to medium size fruit is very good which enables the producer to use Inga* over various packing sizes, from boxes to the 1kg bags. Inga* has a compact growth habit, but with good vigour, especially later in the season.
The fruit size is also maintained later in the season. Inga* performed well in winter conditions in the moderate climatic areas and colour up was excellent. Yield is comparable to opposition varieties with quality also being outstanding. The variety has a strong root system and performs well without grafting. Inga* has resistance to Tomato spotted wilt virus, which is one of the viruses that is occurring in most of the production areas, although it is sporadic.