Imagine tomatoes as a family that married too many cousins — great taste, but they catch every new disease going around and can't handle heat or drought. HARNESSTOM went back to the wild relatives and old heirloom varieties to find the tough genes that got lost along the way. They ran 4 breeding programs to create new starter lines that resist emerging viruses, tolerate drought and salt, and taste better. Think of it as giving commercial tomatoes a genetic health boost from their wilder ancestors.
Commercial tomato varieties have lost genetic diversity through centuries of breeding for yield and appearance, leaving them increasingly vulnerable to new diseases like ToLCNDV and climate stresses including drought, salt, and extreme heat. Growers face rising crop losses, and seed companies need new resistance and tolerance traits faster than traditional breeding can deliver.
The project delivered pre-breeding lines with combined Ty-genes for resistance to ToLCNDV, demonstrated new tomato varieties at public expositions, and built a centralized searchable database of tomato genetic resource information. Across 23 deliverables and 4 prebreeding programs, they created ready-to-use genetic material for disease resistance, climate tolerance, quality improvement, and traditional variety resilience.
If you are a seed company struggling with customers losing crops to new viral diseases like ToLCNDV — this project developed pre-breeds with combined Ty-genes for resistance, ready to be crossed into your commercial lines. With 6 industry partners already involved in the breeding work, the genetics are field-validated and available for licensing.
If you are a greenhouse operator facing rising energy costs and water stress from climate change — this project bred tomato lines tolerant to drought, salt, and high temperatures. These traits mean your crops survive hotter summers with less irrigation, directly cutting input costs and reducing crop failure risk.
If you are a fresh produce company dealing with inconsistent supply quality due to weather and disease outbreaks — this project improved both resilience and quality traits in traditional European tomato varieties through participatory breeding with growers. More reliable supply from climate-adapted varieties means fewer gaps on your shelves.
The project budget is not publicly listed in the available data. Costs would depend on licensing terms negotiated with the consortium, which includes both public research institutes and private breeding companies. Contact the coordinator (CSIC, Spain) to discuss access to pre-breeding material and licensing options.
The pre-breeds are designed as starting material for commercial breeding programs, not finished varieties. With 6 industry partners and 4 SMEs already in the consortium, the path from pre-breed to commercial cultivar is built into the project design. Scaling requires additional breeding cycles by seed companies to incorporate these traits into their elite lines.
As a Horizon 2020 Innovation Action with 22 partners across 7 countries, IP arrangements follow EU grant rules on shared ownership. Specific licensing terms for the pre-breeding lines and resistance gene combinations would need to be negotiated with the relevant consortium partners. Contact the coordinator for IP details.
The project specifically developed pre-breeds with combined Ty-genes for resistance to ToLCNDV (Tomato Leaf Curl New Delhi Virus), a major emerging disease spreading across Mediterranean production regions. The broader disease resistance program addressed other emerging threats, though specific pathogens beyond ToLCNDV are not detailed in the available deliverable data.
The project ran from 2020 to 2024 and produced demonstrated pre-breeds and variety expositions. Converting pre-breeds into registered commercial varieties typically requires 2-4 additional breeding and trial cycles. Companies with existing breeding infrastructure can accelerate this timeline.
Yes — the pre-breeding material is specifically designed to be crossed into commercial lines. The project centralized and normalized genetic resource data in a searchable database, making it easier to identify which traits and gene combinations match your breeding targets. The 4 prebreeding programs cover disease resistance, climate tolerance, quality, and traditional variety resilience.
The project closed in December 2024. Based on available project data, the consortium of 22 partners across 7 countries maintains the genetic resource database and variety information. The project website (harnesstom.eu) and consortium contacts remain available for inquiries about continued collaboration.
The HARNESSTOM consortium brings together 22 partners from 7 countries (Bulgaria, Spain, France, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Taiwan), combining 7 universities, 7 research institutes, 6 industry players, and 2 NGOs. The 27% industry ratio and 4 SMEs signal genuine commercial intent — these are not just academic exercises. The geographic spread covers major tomato-growing regions of Europe and includes Israel and Taiwan, both leaders in agricultural technology. For a business looking to access these genetics, the mix of public research and private breeding companies means there are multiple entry points for licensing and collaboration.
The coordinator is CSIC (Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas) in Spain. SciTransfer can help identify the right contact person.
Want to access HARNESSTOM's climate-resistant tomato genetics or connect with their breeding partners? SciTransfer can arrange a direct introduction to the right consortium member for your needs.
