Red, yellow and proudly Gujarati, India’s first biofortified cherry tomatoes — Anand Lalima and Anand Kundan — need no greenhouse, grow in open fields and kitchen gardens. Unlike hybrids, the seeds can be replanted year after year.
TOI reportsIn a quiet breakthrough that could reshape how India grows and consumes one of its most versatile vegetables, Gujarat has just released two homegrown cherry tomato varieties, the first of their kind developed entirely through Indian agricultural research. The State Variety Release Committee, Gujarat govt, recently approved Anand Lalima (Gujarat Cherry Tomato 301) and Anand Kundan (Gujarat Cherry Tomato 302), marking the culmination of nearly two decades of patient scientific work at Anand Agricultural University (AAU).For farmers, the implications are immediate and significant. Unlike imported hybrid varieties that cost upwards of Rs 30,000-34,000 per kilogram and must be purchased fresh every season, these new varieties will be priced between Rs 15,000-17,000 per kilogram, roughly half the cost.“As cherry tomato is a self-pollinated crop, the seeds harvested from the fruits can be used for many years for continuous sowing,” explained Dr K B Kathiria, vice-chancellor of AAU and the plant breeder who laid the foundation for this programme in 2006-07. “It means there is no need to purchase fresh seeds every year. The seeds may be shared with other farmers and gardeners, helping to produce large quantities without extra effort, thus reducing costs and enabling rapid dissemination.
“THE KITCHEN REVOLUTIONOnce limited to gourmet salads and five-star hotel plates, cherry tomatoes have steadily found their way into Indian kitchens. Today, they appear in pasta bowls, fusion chaats, children’s tiffins and even as quick, guilt-free snacks.
Their bright colours, natural sweetness and ready-to-eat appeal mirror a larger shift in Indian food habits, towards freshness, convenience and nutrition.Sudhakar Angre, a chef from Vadodara, has watched this transformation unfold in his kitchen. “A decade ago, the availability of exotic vegetables like cherry tomatoes was very limited,” he recalled. “We had to specially order them from metros such as Mumbai or Delhi, and even cheese had to be sourced.”The opening of more premium hotels and restaurants in Gujarat over the last eight to ten years has transformed both supply and consumption. “As luxury dining spaces came up, the supply chain strengthened and consumption increased manifold,” Angre noted. “Today, these ingredients are essential to make Western and Oriental dishes authentic and complete.”“We use them in cherry tomato pesto with pine nuts, penne pasta with broccoli in Alfredo sauce, pasta salads, pizzas and even sandwiches like pesto sliders,” he said.
In Indian kitchens too, the ingredient has found a place, featuring in saffron or jaffrani gravies paired with exotic vegetables.“People want food that looks vibrant and feels global. Cherry tomatoes add that freshness and visual appeal, which is why their use has grown steadily,” Angre added.Cherry tomatoes are sold separately, mostly in pallet boxes like grapes, across fruit and vegetable market counters, supermarkets and even online delivery apps.VALUE OVER VOLUMEFor farmers, cherry tomatoes represent a shift from volume-driven cultivation to value-driven farming. The plants are indeterminate, producing fruits continuously over several months. This allows staggered harvesting, steady income and reduced exposure to sudden market crashes, a frequent problem with conventional tomatoes.Cherry tomatoes respond well to protected cultivation such as polyhouses and net houses, making them attractive for peri-urban farmers supplying city markets.
Yet despite India being one of the world’s largest tomato producers — with cultivation across 8,45,000 hectares and annual production exceeding 21 million tonnes — cherry tomatoes have remained a niche crop. In Gujarat alone, tomatoes cover 54,000 hectares producing around 1.58 million tonnes, but only a small fraction is cherry tomato production.Typically, cherry tomatoes yield 50-75 tonnes per hectare in open fields, rising to 120 tonnes under greenhouses.
But most imported hybrids require protected cultivation, pushing production costs higher and confining the fruit to premium urban markets. This is where AAU’s long-term research makes a difference.THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE BREAKTHROUGHThe foundation was laid two decades ago, when Dr Kathiria, then research scientist (vegetables) at AAU, imported wild tomato germplasm from the CM Rick Tomato Genetics Resource Centre (TGRC), University of California, Davis—one of the world’s most important tomato gene banks.Recognising the limits of routine breeding, AAU established a specialised Centre for Distant Hybridisation with a long-term vision to tap wild and exotic genetic resources. The coordinated breeding programme was formally shaped in 2013-14 under the leadership of late Dr Akarsh Parihar, associate research scientist, who spearheaded interspecific hybridisation between cultivated tomatoes and wild cherry tomato relatives (Lycopersicon esculentum var.
cerasiforme).This demanding approach aimed to combine resilience, nutrition, sustained fruiting and adaptability to Indian field conditions. Over more than a decade, successive generations were evaluated for yield, earliness, disease and pest resistance, tolerance to climatic stresses, fruit shape, size, colour, taste, aroma and nutritional quality.Multilocation trials conducted across Gujarat between 2021-22 and 2024-25 confirmed the success of two advanced pure-line varieties.
The work involved scientists including Dr D A Patel, Dr R R Acharya and Dr M B Vaja, with administrative and technical support from Dr M K Jhala, director of research, AAU.HIGH YIELD, NO GREENHOUSEField trials showed that Anand Lalima recorded an average yield of 153 quintals per hectare, while Anand Kundan yielded 143 quintals per hectare, outperforming the existing check variety. Unlike most imported hybrids, the AAU varieties perform well in open fields using simple trailing systems supported by poles and wires, along with drip irrigation.“They are suitable for terrace gardens and kitchen plots as well,” said Kathiria. With a fruiting window of nearly four months, a single plant can produce over 1,000 — and in some cases close to 2,000 — fruits through multiple pickings. The current cost-benefit ratio stands at 1:1.86 for open field cultivation.RESILIENT, CLIMATE-READY PLANTSBecause one parent in each variety is a wild species, both show strong resistance to major soil-borne and airborne diseases, as well as insect pests.
They also tolerate abiotic stresses such as drought, high temperatures and cold spells, traits carefully preserved through years of selection under open-field conditions. This makes them suitable even for natural farming systems. The fruits have a shelf life of 10-15 days without any transportation issues, addressing a key concern for perishable produce.
They can also be preserved through freezing, dehydration and pickling.Nutrition is where the new varieties truly stand out. Anand Lalima, the red-fruited variety, is particularly rich in lycopene, a powerful antioxidant linked to cardiovascular health and protection against oxidative stress, earning it the description of a “natural lycopene capsule”.Anand Kundan, the yellow-fruited variety, contains higher levels of β-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A essential for vision, immunity and cellular health, especially relevant in addressing micronutrient deficiencies.Both varieties show higher levels of total soluble solids, sugars, dietary fibre, protein and essential minerals such as potassium, calcium, magnesium and phosphorus compared to existing cherry and common tomato varieties. These improvements were consistent across locations, confirming genetic stability. On this basis, both were officially designated biofortified varieties.The global contextGlobally, cherry tomatoes have become a high-value export commodity.
Between March 2023 and Feb 2024, over 8,900 shipments were traded worldwide, with exports rising by 22% year-on-year. Major destinations include Russia, the US and Romania, while Turkey, the Netherlands and Mexico dominate exports.India’s cherry tomato story, however, is increasingly turning inward, towards domestic consumption, farmer profitability and nutritional security. Yet the export potential cannot be ignored.
“This variety will have very high chances of popularisation even in export scenarios, which will greatly contribute to Atmanirbhar Bharat,” said a researcher associated with the programme.WHAT COMES NEXTAAU will now conduct adaptive trials at farmers’ fields as the varieties are released for commercial cultivation through the formal seed certification agency of the state. The Main Vegetable Research Station at AAU is the primary seed producer, and licensing can be done with private companies interested in multiplying and distributing the seeds.While no govt subsidies are currently available, the inherent cost savings — from seed reusability, open-field cultivation and reduced input requirements — make the varieties economically viable without financial support.Small fruit, big futureWith locally developed, climate-resilient and nutrient-rich varieties now available, cherry tomatoes are poised to move beyond elite kitchens. For farmers, they offer steady income and lower risk.
For consumers, they bring flavour and nutrition in a convenient form. And for home gardeners, they promise something rare — abundant harvests from a single plant. The journey from the ancient Andes to Indian backyards has been long.
But with Anand Lalima and Anand Kundan, the cherry tomato may finally have found its home.THE WEIGHT OF HISTORYBotanically known as Solanum lycopersicum L. var. cerasiforme, the cherry tomato is believed to be the ancestor of all cultivated tomatoes.
Native to South America, particularly the Andean region, this wild tomato travelled northwards to Central America, where it was domesticated around 700 AD by early civilisations such as the Aztecs and Incas.For centuries, tomatoes carried a mysterious reputation. Their association with the nightshade family meant they were surrounded by folklore and suspicion, remaining largely absent from European diets until the mid-19th century.
Even after tomatoes gained acceptance, cherry tomatoes were long dismissed as decorative garnishes rather than crops with serious culinary or commercial potential.That perception changed in the late 20th century. British farmer Bernard Sparkes developed one of the first commercially successful cherry tomato varieties, Gardener’s Delight, in the early 1980s. Around the same time, Israeli scientists — most notably Prof Nachum Kedar and Prof Haim Rabinowich of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem —played a pivotal role in transforming cherry tomatoes into a globally viable crop by breeding varieties that combined sweetness, firmness, uniformity and suitability for large-scale production.
Most cherry tomato varieties grown worldwide today trace their lineage to these Israeli innovations.
