**Foreword**

Chapter 6 **Marker-Assisted Selection (MAS): A Fast-Track Tool in Tomato**

Michael K. Osei, Ruth Prempeh, Joseph Adjebeng-Danquah, Jacinta A. Opoku, Agyemang Danquah, Eric Danquah, Essie Blay and Hans

**Breeding 93**

**VI** Contents

Adu-Dapaah

Globally, tomato improvement has traversed a pathway spanning breeding for increased yield in the 1970s, extended shelf life in the 1980s, and enhanced organoleptic properties in the 1990s. Current efforts still include all these as well as nutritional quality and resistance to biotic and abiotic stress factors of the environment.

In most developing regions of the world, tomato breeding efforts are fragmented, uncoordinated, and poorly documented, leading to overlaps and duplications, resulting in only moderate gains compared to achievements in the more technologically advanced regions. The moderate gains in developing regions have been achieved using limited inputs by way of skilled personnel, infrastructure, and funds.

*Recent Advances in Tomato Breeding and Production* documents efforts by scientists working in typical developing country environments, using basic and widely tested methods and simple techniques the results of which are applicable and/or adaptable to similar environments. The focus is work carried out mostly in Ghana, but contributions from Brazil, Indonesia, and Iraq give this compilation an international/interregional flair that should appeal to a wide readership. The knowledge shared in this book is relevant to current tomato breeding and production efforts and will fill the gap as a useful reference material for undergraduate and graduate students and researchers working especially in related environments.

> *Harry Mensah Amoatey, PhD (Swansea)* Associate Professor of Plant Breeding School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences College of Basic and Applied Sciences University of Ghana

Preface

Tomato production is limited by abiotic and biotic factors (fungi, bacteria, viruses, and nem‐ atodes). There are however various methods currently employed to address these challeng‐ es. This book "Recent Advances in Tomato Breeding and Production" focuses on two main themes: (i) disease and pest management in tomato production, and (ii) breeding tools and improvement of the tomato. These themes will be expanded on to include tomato breeding/ production methods e.g., application of grafting techniques for disease control, where a scion of a susceptible plant is grafted onto a resistant root-stock against a biotic agent, the use of integrated management methods, e.g., good agronomic practices (GAPs), application of plant botanical extracts with fungicidal properties, and biological control agents such as *Trichoderma harzianum* to manage damping-off in tomato seedlings. Plant growth promoting Rizobacteria (PGPR) e.g., *Pseudomonas s*pp. and *Bacillus* sp. enhance growth and develop‐ ment of tomato plants and also provide protection against plant pathogens. Other chapters will focus on germplasm collection and screening, through morphological and molecular characterization for identification of resistance to biotic and abiotic stress. Modern-day to‐ mato cultivation makes use of soilless media and controlled environments e.g., hydroponics, simple high tunnel structures, and automated screen and greenhouses. Marker assisted se‐ lection (MAS) is a conventional breeding tool where molecular markers linked to specific traits are identified. Other strategies include marker assisted backcrossing and recurrent se‐ lection for tomato breeding against stress. These studies can be complemented with under‐ standing of the genotype x environment interactions for varietal development. I believe the

Many thanks to the IntechOpen book department and Ms. Romina Skomersic (Author Serv‐ ice Manager), for the opportunity to work on this project. All authors of the book chapters

> **Dr. Seloame Tatu Nyaku** Department of Crop Science

> University of Ghana, Ghana

University of Ghana, Ghana **Dr. Agyemang Danquah**

University of Ghana, Ghana

College of Basic and Applied Sciences (CBAS)

College of Basic and Applied Sciences (CBAS)

West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI) College of Basic and Applied Sciences (CBAS)

chapters will be useful to university students and researchers.

are highly acknowledged for their valuable contributions.
