Caribbean Chemicals and Agencies Ltd. And Petoseed Inc. recently hosted a Field Day in South Aranjuez. Over 275 persons from all over Trinidad and Tobago attended and were privileged to observe the performance of Petoseed's latest tomato variety Trinity pride. During the Field Day, visits were made to Parbatie Samaroo's field of sweet peppers where participants saw both the King Henry and the new King Edward varieties but the major highlight of the day's activities was George and Ramdial Ramtahal's field of Trinity Pride tomatoes.

Following in the footsteps of Peto's tradition of excellent products, such as Early Cascade Celebrity, Kada, Nema, King Henry, Fortuna, Tropicana, Blitz, Quest, Royal Sweet, Mickylee, Eureka, Trinity Star and Magnum - Trinity pride was released and what a pride and revelation it was. The Ramtahals' field was what every tomato farmer dreams of. Healthy vigorous trees, heavy flower set, attractive fruits, good yields and minimum pest and disease problems.

What makes Trinity pride so different from the other popularly grown varieties? Farmers have been satisfied with planting Nema in the dry season and Kada in the rainy season. Why is there a need to change?

Trinity Pride is a very versatile variety, since it can be grown all year round. We have just experienced because of the El Niño phenomenon one of the harshest dry seasons. Because of its in-bred characteristics, Trinity pride is best suited for rainy season production, yet it gave a superlative performance during this dry season.

Trinity Pride is indeterminate, that means it can be grown for periods longer than a planting season. It can reach over six feet in height so it must be staked for effective production. It has very strong disease resistance. It is resistant to the strains of bacterial wilt commonly found in Trinidad and exhibits excellent tolerance to grey leaf spot - a major leaf spot problem in tomatoes.

Trinity Pride at two months old presents a very picturesque sight due to the abundance of flowers on the tree while most of the varieties grown locally have a single inflorescence, Trinity pride branches out and splits into a double inflorescence. This affords the plant the potential to double its yield.

This abundance of flowers later change into clusters of fruits and give bunches of six to eight tomatoes on average. These are found throughout the plant. They eventually develop into hard solid tomatoes with a red glossy external colour.

When these tomatoes are sliced they have a deep red colour inside.

Farmers will be happy to know that the clusters of fruit do not mature all at the same time. The firmness of the fruit is another significant advantage since they would have a longer shelf life and would suit the market and street vendors.

Because of its Bacterial Wilt tolerance, Trinity Pride will enable farmers to plant tomatoes in areas previously impossible to do so. Areas such as Cantaro - Santa Cruz, Sangre Grande, Freeport, Gasparillo, Gran Couva are known for their high levels of Bacterial Wilt.

_____________________________________________________________

OUTSTANDING VARIETIES FROM PETOSEED

TOP