How about the juicy hotdogs and burgers? Yes, if there's mustard in it.

But why do people still prefer tomato ketchup?

It's delicious and nutritious!

For one, tomato ketchup is produced out of real tomatoes.

Tomato, which used to be grown as an ornamental in the United Sates, is also one of the most important vegetables in the country. Very easy to grow, tomato has become part of the Filipino diet for centuries, all because it has good nutritional value.

The tomato can be grown anywhere, even in pots used for ornamentals.

Tomato requires very minimal soil to grow. However, tomato production has been low and this explains why its price surges during the lean production months.

Scientists explain that although the crop is widely grown by both industry-connected farmers and resource-limited ones, production is severely hampered by the geminivirus tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) and the cucumovirus cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) - the two most prevalent tomato viral disease in the country.

The two viruses have caused great economic losses and scientists are now looking into ways to develop a tomato variety that can resist these dreaded viruses.

The development of a superior variety of tomato - through the Development and Commercialization of Multiple Virus Resistant (MVR) Tomato for the Philippines project - is now making headway to solve this problem.

Dr. Hayde F. Galvez of the Institute of Plant Breeding (IPB) at the University of the Philippines Los Baños, Laguna, has completed the first backcross.

She also initiated additional crosses for TYLCV resistant with outstanding Philippine tomato genotypes at the Benguet State University Research Station in La Trinidad, Benguet.

In collaboration with the East West Seed Co. Philippines, the field screening of Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (AVRDC) TYLCV-resistant tomato lines in selected major tomato production regions' experimental control site have been completed and scientists discovered that under natural virus infection in the field, AVRDC's tomato lines proved to be effective against the Philippine strains of TYLCV.

The project's objective is to combine near-market transgenic technologies for CMV with naturally occurring resistance against TYLCV and to produce commercial tomato varieties with multiple virus resistance.

Actual field surveys for TYCLV / CMV incidence in major tomato-growing areas of the Philippines have been done, particularly in Baguio, Bulacan, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, Los Baños, Nueva Ecija and Pangasinan.

The prevalence of these viral diseases, which were found to occur in independent and mixed infections, has been validated. Scientists were able to collect different isolates of TLCV and CMV from major tomato production.

Recently, scientist from the AVRDC - a consortium involving the World Vegetable Center, Indonesia and the Philippines in developing of MVR tomato - gathered to standardize activities and protocols in their respective research stations.

Product developers have set activities and work plan for 2006 during the Second ABSP II MVR Tomato Coordination and Planning meeting held on January 11 at the IPB.

The technology of transgenic CMV and nontransgenic Gemini virus resistance has also been formally transferred to the Philippines by the AVRDC-The World Vegetable Center.

The seed of F3 molecular mapping population for TLCV resistance were turned over to the UPLB.

Scientists are now waiting for the biosafety approval of the National Committee for Biosafety of the Philippines so that seeds of F1 crosses between CMV-CP mediated resistant lines and local varieties will be given to the UPLB.

Scientists believe that with the development of multiple virus-resistant tomato, which is also being eyed for edible vaccine, will soon become a high value crop that every family can grow in their own little backyard. (Biotechnology for Life)