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Great post sir.

Thank You Bigsammay. It is our pleasure.

bigsammay:
Great post sir.

how does one get this tomato variety?

Please reach out to the contact in the article

eddyline:
how does one get this tomato variety?

Is Padma F1 resistant to early and late blight, or any of the other fungal diseases that spread quickly when tomato leaves are soaked by rain?

"EastWest Seed" makes padma. There are mobile apps made by the company to get details of its seeds but seems the apps are no more functioning. I have tried the android apps many times but I cannot download catalogues which make them work. Also, the company used to list its seeds in tabular form on its website. In fact, I used to have the screenshots seeds summary of all tomato, cucumber and pepper varieties but this option too is gone. I have been checking every other sources to get this information again but it seems the company has decided to take the details out of the reach of customers. For whatever reason they have, i do not know. I wish one of their agents or representatives can make clarification on this.

In one of my posts, I wrote that I am returning to OPV and stop using all these so called hybrids. It is frustrating the way these companies behave. They try to be nice when they want to penetrate into a new market but afterward, they all just start doing as they like. But who can blame them? Perhaps, they are protecting their business too but in so doing, farmers suffer.

I do not think padma or most East West varieties have disease resistant to Early or Late Blight and these are terrible diseases. Anyone doing tomato should be ready to battle them with fungicides especially during rainy season. However, I know they have varieties with resistance to bacteria wilt, CMV and TYLCV. But of course, many companies have developed such varieties which is nothing new.

Padma of EastWest and Cobra of Technisem are in the same category. This is my observation but personally, I have stopped cultivating both. Why? I am sure the companies can withdraw the seeds anytime they want and farmers will be back to square one. They always do it. To me, they are not interested in farmers' progress but only after their own profit. Same with technisem, the company revised its website like a year ago and removed details of most of their hybrids. So what are we talking about? Talk to some agents who don't even understand what they are selling?

One still even has access to Hadiza, the project manager of EastWest and she tries her best to educate and assit farmers but Technisem and the rest, who to talk to? Not a single scientist around to assist. And when technisem decides to create scarcity, they do it excellently and beautifully. Then, price increases afterward. Just my observation.

Why should farmers rely on such companies?

I do not think any of the seeds around have resistance to early blight and late.

Another issue is all these companies will not easily release the degree of resistance. Is it low, intermediate or high resistant? They will never easily tell you until you make deep research or contact someone who knows it but always hard to get.

It was when I tested well i realised Tokyo has got better resistant to downey and powdery mildew than murano of Technisem. Farmers who have planted both will support my claim that Tokyo plants always last longer than Murano but with a bit smaller cucumber fruits. But no one will say it. Why must they hide it? I do not know.

So, I think it is time to return to OPV varieties or one makes his hybrid or one gets a very reliable seed seller. To get a reliable supplier, I think one should look into retail importation of seeds himself from a reputable company. It may be more expensive at the initial stage but for a well grounded farmer, good customer relation is of great value. If one can hook up with the headquaters of most of the companies and have access to a reliable contact there, it is the best way around. Otherwise, asking the distributors, agents, importers etc, is a total waste of time. I am telling you all the truth.



https://www.nairaland.com/2968623/east-west-seed-now-nigeria

You can follow the instructions written on this thread by I think Hadiza and see if you can download their apps. If you can, please, kindly make comments here. Maybe they work on apple device. Maybe on tablet. Maybe. I am not sure anymore. These apps used to work flawlessly when EastWest first arrived here but they seem to have stopped working. Or am I wrong?

Great post.

Can anyone confirm the claim of the op?