Cultivation
The tomato is now grown worldwide for its edible fruits, with thousands of cultivars having been selected with varying fruit types, and for optimum growth in differing growing conditions. Cultivated tomatoes vary in size, from tomberries, about 5 mm in diameter, through cherry tomatoes, about the same 1–2 centimeters (0.4–0.8 in) size as the wild tomato, up to beefsteak tomatoes 10 centimeters (4 in) or more in diameter. The most widely grown commercial tomatoes tend to be in the 5–6 centimeters (2.0–2.4 in) diameter range. Most cultivars produce red fruit, but a number of cultivars with yellow, orange, pink, purple, green, black, or white fruit are also available. Multicolored and striped fruit can also be quite striking. Tomatoes grown for canning and sauces are often elongated, 7–9 centimeters (3–4 in) long and 4–5 centimeters (1.6–2.0 in) diameter; they are known as plum tomatoes, and have a lower water content. Roma-type tomatoes are important cultivars in the Sacramento Valley.
Tomatoes are one of the most common garden fruits in the United States and, along with zucchini, have a reputation for outproducing the needs of the grower.
Quite a few seed merchants and banks provide a large selection of heirloom seeds. The definition of an heirloom tomato is vague, but unlike commercial hybrids, all are self-pollinators that have bred true for 40 years or more.
About 150 million tons of tomatoes were produced in the world in 2009. China, the largest producer, accounted for about one quarter of the global output, followed by United States and India. For one variety, plum or processing tomatoes, California accounts for 90% of U.S. production and 35% of world production.
According to FAOSTAT, the top producers of tomatoes (in tonnes) in 2010 were:
| Top Five Tomato Producers – 2010 (in tonnes) |
|
|---|---|
| China | 41,879,684 |
| United States | 12,902,000 |
| India | 11,979,700 |
| Turkey | 10,052,000 |
| Egypt | 8,544,990 |
| World Total | 145,751,507 (11th overall) |
Within the EU, there are several areas that grow tomatoes with Protected Geographical Status. These include:
- Pomodoro di Pachino (PGI), in Sicily
- Pomodoro S. Marzano dell'Agro Sarnese-Nocerino (PDO), in south Italy
- Tomaten von der Insel Reichenau (PGI), from Reichenau Island, Germany
- Pomodorino_del_Piennolo_del_Vesuvio (PDO), in Mt Vesuvius area.
Read more about this topic: Tomato
Famous quotes containing the word cultivation:
“Let these memorials of built stone music’s
enduring instrument, of many centuries of
patient cultivation of the earth, of English
verse ...”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)
“We are on a mission: we are called to the cultivation of the earth.”
—Novalis [Friedrich Von Hardenberg] (1772–1801)
“Those who are esteemed umpires of taste, are often persons who have acquired some knowledge of admired pictures or sculptures, and have an inclination for whatever is elegant; but if you inquire whether they are beautiful souls, and whether their own acts are like fair pictures, you learn that they are selfish and sensual. Their cultivation is local, as if you should rub a log of dry wood in one spot to produce fire, all the rest remaining cold.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)