Israel’s “High Priest of Tomatoes” Professor Nachum Kedar, of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Faculty of Agriculture in Rehovot, is the recipient of the 2006 Israel Prize in Agriculture.
The Israel Prize is the highest award that the State bestows upon its distinguished citizens for their achievements. Kedar, born in Vienna, is a graduate of the Hebrew University and specialised in tomato genetics and breeding, with special emphasis on shelf-life, taste and disease resistance. He is known as the High Priest of Tomatoes, following his achievements in breeding outdoor grown tomatoes resistant to Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus, as well as breeding a wide range of hybrid tomato seeds, which are now used in Israel, Mexico, Morocco, Spain, Turkey and in other countries throughout the world.
Nearly 90 per cent of all tomatoes grown in Morocco and 40 per cent of tomatoes grown in Turkey are from seeds developed by the Faculty of Agriculture in Rehovot.
Kedar noted that about 20-30 per cent of the harvested tomato crop is usually lost because of softness or rotting. This problem has now been solved by incorporating one or more of several genetic factors into commercial varieties. About 300 varieties of this type have been released and 50 are now grown successfully.
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