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News

Impact of drought and heat stress on tomato plants

23/08/2024 - Press release

Future-Proofing Tomato Production to Climate Change
A novel study promises to push the boundaries of scientific knowledge around the impact of heat and drought on tomato health and explore the potential of an innovative biostimulant technology to improve tomato resilience to climate change and reduce the carbon footprint of production.
Optimal tomato growth, fruit set, and yield occur at day/night temperatures of 21°C-29.5°C and 18.5°C-21°C, respectively.
As reported by Ryan Avery, Global Head of Processing for Bayer Vegetable Seeds at this year’s World Processing Tomato Congress, temperatures are rising in regions further from the equator, and in agricultural areas affected by drought, groundwater is being consumed faster than it can be replaced.
Added to the environmental challenges are consumer opinion and new regulations – all factors outside growers’ control and posing significant risk for future tomato production.

Innovative Research and Development
The new study is led by the start-up SugaROx and the scientific institute Fera Science Ltd (Fera). At the heart of their project lies two core capabilities: a game-changing technology for crop biostimulation and a state-of-the-art digital phenotyping facility.
Traditional biostimulants, extracts from algae/plants and acid-based formulations from organic waste, are mixtures of ingredients. SugaROx is developing single-molecule formulations based on biochemically functional active ingredients (AIs) inspired by plant molecules.
‘We target critical bottlenecks in plant biochemistry and physiology with our AIs. That allows us to direct key metabolic processes that affect yield and resilience in plants’, explains Dr Cara Griffiths, SugaROx’s CTO and co-founder.
‘Our first AI is a modified version of trehalose-6-phosphate (T6P), a sugar that stimulates carbon use and allocation via interaction with SnRK1 (Sucrose Non-fermenting Related Kinase 1)’, complements Cara. ‘We use a modified version of T6P for effective AI delivery and uptake after a canopy spray’.
The technology used by SugaROx was originally developed for wheat, and evaluation field trials completed over the last 3 years show potential to boost yields by up to 15% under drought conditions. For benchmark, most traditional biostimulants deliver yield gains of 2-5% for farmers.
In the new study, SugaROx decided to partner with Fera to access state-of-the-art R&D facilities. Fera’s capabilities includes the Phenospex PlantEye Technology, which can be used to produce 3-D scans of plants, while using multispectral imagery to detect early stages of plant stress (e.g. changes in NDVI - Normalized Difference Vegetation Index).

The Fera team will expose miniature tomatoes to heat and drought stress, and compare the yield and resilience responses of plants treated with the T6P biostimulant to control plants (i.e. receiving no biostimulant). As well as physiological responses (e.g. changes in chlorophyll levels), it may be possible to correlate stress levels with biochemical markers, such as plant amino acids (e.g. proline).
Growers and food companies are looking for solutions to improve crop resilience to climate stress. Fundamental to the wider adoption of biostimulants is a better understanding of how they work.
‘It is difficult for manufacturers to test heat stress under field conditions. In the controlled environment rooms here at Fera, we can create the necessary stress (up to 40^oC) and, using our phenotyping equipment we can generate vast quantities of data on every plant we grow’, says Dr Aoife Dillon, Principal Scientist Crop Inputs at Fera. ‘Large volumes of data allow us to measure small changes in plant response, which in turn can allow for better targeting of these biostimulants’.

Commitment to Producers
‘We aim to develop science-based biostimulants that are adaptable to existing agricultural practices’, says Bianca Forte, SugaROx’s Business Development Director. ‘To achieve that in this study, the British Tomato Growers’ Association (BTGA) will act as Knowledge Exchange Champion and agronomy consultancy ADAS will model the economic and carbon benefits under three grower scenarios’.
‘As our project is supported by the UK government, the BTGA and ADAS will focus on tomato production in glasshouses’, explains Bianca. ‘But Fera will use model tomato plants for the phenotyping work, so the insights from our study should be useful to inform field applications too.’
Bianca is keen to connect with open field producers, and tomato processing companies, to hear how drought and heat have been affecting their businesses. If that is you, reach out to her via LinkedIn.

About the Project Partners
SugaROx Limited: SugaROx is a spin-out from Oxford University and Rothamsted Research developing biostimulants with active ingredients that mimic powerful plant molecules. Learn more.
Fera Science Limited: Fera is a leading provider of scientific services, committed to innovation and delivering sustainable solutions to environmental and food safety challenges. Learn more.
BTGA: The British Tomato Growers’ Association supports British tomato growers and communicates the benefits of fresh tomatoes to British consumers. Learn more.
ADAS: ADAS is an independent research and consultancy provider focused on food security and the environment, with over 400 experts across more than 60 specialisms. Learn more.

Picture copyright: British Tomato Growers’ Association

Related companies

Fera Science Ltd

Research organisation See details

SugaROx Ltd

Agricultural equipment & supplies See details

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