ZIRO, Jul 14: new disease-resistant tomato variety, ArkaAbhed, is transforming tomato cultivation in Arunachal Pradesh's Lower Subansiri district, offering farmers higher yields, reduced cultivation costs and improved incomes.
Introduced by the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Lower Subansiri, the variety has shown remarkable performance under the district's humid, high-rainfall conditions, where tomato cultivation has long been affected by erratic weather and devastating crop diseases.
The initiative began in 2023 with On-Farm Trials (OFTs) to evaluate the suitability of the variety, developed by the ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), for local agro-climatic conditions. Following encouraging results, KVK expanded the programme through Front-Line Demonstrations (FLDs) during the 2024-25 season, enabling farmers to cultivate the variety on a larger scale.
ArkaAbhed possesses resistance to four major tomato diseases—Tomato Leaf Curl Virus, Bacterial Wilt, Early Blight and Late Blight—making it particularly suitable for the humid hill regions of Arunachal Pradesh.
The disease resistance has significantly reduced farmers' dependence on chemical pesticides, lowering cultivation costs, reducing labour and promoting safer vegetable production.
The variety also offers an impressive yield potential of 70-75 tonnes per hectare. Its firm fruits, weighing around 90-100 grams, have a longer shelf life, enabling farmers to transport produce over long distances with minimal post-harvest losses and fetch better market prices.
A KVK Lower Subansiri representative said the successful transition from trial plots in 2023 to widespread cultivation demonstrates the importance of climate-resilient technologies in improving farmers' livelihoods.
KVK plans to continue providing training and technical support to promote wider adoption of the variety across the district.