ISI Sementi is strengthening tomato investment in Iberia

They are already making crosses in Almeria to see hybrids in the surroundings and reach the market earlier

ISI Sementi is an Italian company with over 40 years of history behind it. It was founded in 1981 by Florindo Boni with his collaborators, and it has belonged to Misui & Co for the past two years. The company started out concentrating on R&D and fruit and vegetable seed production and, subsequently, it moved on to the marketing side. Currently, the company is working in over 68 countries all over the world, with the Iberian Peninsula as one of its most important markets. Accordingly, for the past three years, ISI Sementi has been strengthening its sales network in Spain (Murcia, Almeria, Extremadura, Navarra, Seville and Cadiz), as well as in Portugal.

Naturally, given its Italian origin, the star crop of ISI Sementi is the tomato, both specific (industry) and undetermined (fresh). For this reason, an important part of its laboratory team’s focus, for breeders and participants, lies in this product category.

Fruit Today interviewed Rubén Martín, Country Manager of ISI Sementi Ibérica, to find out some of the materials that stand out in the company’s tomato portfolio.

“Salathor continues to be our flagship in Almeria,” he points out. This plum tomato for short cycles and the Spanish home market is very early and fast-growing, turning it into an ideal variety for short cycles. “With Salathor farmers can harvest all the kilos fast and move on to another crop,” he explains. Regarding resistances, Salathor is resistant to TYLCV, spotted and Fulvia.

Offer against ToBRFV

Today, ISI Sementi’s portfolio already includes five hybrids with intermediate resistance (IR) to ToBRFV that are already on the market. These include a large calibre plum tomato, Salathor-type, focused on the Spanish home market, a midi plum tomato (plum cocktail), a yellow plum cherry tomato, a smooth beefsteak tomato and a plum cherry tomato.

It is also worth mentioning that this year the company has brought out its first materials with high resistance to ToBRFV. “We are going to test them and position them in Almeria,” Rubén Martín explains. They include two plum cocktail tomatoes and three round cherry tomatoes. “Our goal is for all our materials to incorporate high resistance to ToBRFV in as short a time as possible in order to provide maximum safety for farmers.”

Following their experience in Sicily and Mexico regarding ToBRFV, Martín underscores that, in addition to having materials with good genetics, the sector must start up changes, both cultural and regarding cycles, to be able to face up to this problem as best as possible.

Umbrella brands

On a sales level, ISI Sementi has two umbrella brands: Pomorosa, with the slogan ‘El color del sabor’ (The colour of flavour), and Gocce di Sapore, that ‘Attract you with the colour and win you over with the flavour’. The first encompasses pink materials such as the varieties Rosalinda, Rosamunda and Babymunda. And Gocce di Sapore brings together small formats with special colour, flavour and shapes. “They are becoming increasingly well-known in Iberia. This will be a year for the presentation and promotion of both brands.”

An extensive portfolio

In addition to tomatoes, ISI Sementi has a complete portfolio with peppers, aubergines, courgettes, cucumbers, leafy crops, melons and watermelons, brassicas, onions and rootstocks.