Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** tomato is one of the most widely…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** tomato is one of the most widely cultivated, extensively consumed, and economically important horticultural crops in the US. However, the US tomato industry is facing certain major challenges, such as sustaining the competitiveness of domestic production, resilience to the increased frequency and severity of biotic and abiotic stresses driven by climate change, and meeting consumer demands for high-quality fresh and processed tomato products. Hence, the project will focus on developing tomato lines with high water use efficiency (WUE) and heat tolerance (HT) to mitigate the impacts of biotic and abiotic stresses compounded by a dynamic and changing climate. IT is anticipated that this stakeholder-driven approach will lead to the development of n regionally adapted, disease-resistant, high-quality WUE and HT advanced breeding lines that support breeding flavorful, high-quality, healthy tomatoes, thus adding value for tomato breeders, seed companies, producers, distributors, processors, and retailers via increased consumer demand (scri focus areas 1, 3, and 5). Moreover, the high WUE and HT tomatoes will reduce the cost of tomato production while enhancing economic opportunities in agricultural areas and supporting rural living. The project focuses on field-grown tomatoes, but the identified traits and advanced breeding lines will be useful for tomatoes grown in other production systems. The project will yield vital data, advanced breeding lines, molecular breeding tools, elite inbred lines for fresh, mature green, and processing tomato types, and novel genetic diversity that breeders can use to improve future varieties.