Joe Duggan (Reporter)
A GROUP of intrepid botanical boffins are aiming to create a new climate-change-resistant tomato in Mallorca.
Researchers from the University of the Balearics have planted 5,000 tomatoes from 250 varieties on a farm near Ariany.
They are battling to develop a more resilient strain of tomato in the face of changing weather patterns.
The university team, which will be joined by representatives from horticulture company Agroilla, will try to create new species of tomatoes which need less water and nutrients.
The ramillete, a traditional Mallorca tomato which has a higher-than-average resistance to drought, is one of the specimens the scientists will examine.
Europe’s tomatoes have been put at risk by reduced rainfall due to climate change and excessive demand draining the continent’s supply of fertiliser.
