Biologically-bred tomato variety: Mauro Rosso

The name giver: breeder Mauro Buonfiglioni (left) with tomato farmer T. Orfanelli in the field

Rapunzel's long-term commitment in organic seed breeding bears fruits: a totally new tomato variety was bred from organic seeds - the "Mauro Rosso" variety. This variety has been cultivated for Rapunzel since 2015.

Italian organic farmers have had good experience with the new organic "Mauro Rosso" variety in organic farming. The delicious flavor of the new variety also convinced us. Financial support for the Italian breeders of Sativa Rheinau and the guaranteed purchase of the new "Mauro Rosso" variety were important elements for the successful breeding of this seedfast organic variety.

For the organic farmers, this marks another important step on their way for more independence from big seed corporations and for the preservation of variety of diversity. In today's commercial tomato cultivation, nearly 80% of the used seeds are hybrid seeds. Unlike seedfast seeds, the farmers cannot multiply these hybrid seeds on their fields.

The development of Mauro Rosso: local field trials

Both, the long-term Italian tomato sauce processors as well as Rapunzel's tomato farmers directly participated in the joint seed project with Sativa.

It's a long, hard way to a new variety. The farmers cultivated different breeding lines on small plots and exchanged their experience with the different varieties directly with the breeder. Important assessment parameter included disease resistance, yield stability, yield amount and a uniform ripening process.

The different breeding lines were separately harvested and processed into sample batches for Rapunzel tomato sauces. This way, the Rapunzel tasting panel could compare sauces made from conventional tomatoes with sauces made from the newly bred varieties. The new tomato sauce Mauro Rosso performed very well with the tasting panel. Since the end of 2014, the new variety has been approved by the Federal Variety List. And since the first harvest in 2015, "Mauro Rosso" has also been used for Rapunzel tomato products. Depending on the harvest in different proportions.

The name of the variety honors the commitment and the dedication of Mauro Buonfiglioli, Sativa's Italian breeding partner.

The new tomato variety that was bred from organic seeds: Mauro Rosso

Why does Rapunzel not rely exclusively on the Mauro Rosso variety?

For the farmers, it is important to spread out the tomato harvest throughout the year. This minimizes their cultivation risks especially with respect to fungal diseases. Therefore, the farmers grow several varieties.

This will give the farmers a greater choice and will help them to focus exlusively on organic varieties in some years. The approval of the Mauro Rosso tomato variety and its first commercial use are not the end of this cooperation. This process only marks the successful end of a first phase that will be succeeded by other projects. Rapunzel continues to be committed to organic breeding of seedfast seeds.

read more about Rapunzel tomato products

The organic breeders of Sativa Rheinau AG | www.sativa-rheinau.ch