The photo below shows the tomato fruit cut in half. When the cut fruit is examined; When the fruit is left on the plant for a long time or is harvested after the ripening period has passed, the germination of mature seeds is seen in the fruit that appears at some times.
In other words, when the seeds waiting in the ripe tomato fruit are kept for a long time in the greenhouse or in the field, they may start to germinate in the fruit when it is not harvested from the plant even though it is ripening time, in extreme temperatures. This is entirely due to the physiology of the tomato fruit and the seeds in it, and the environmental conditions.
When the seeds germinating in the tomato fruit wait a little longer, the cotyledon leaves of the new plant and the stem of the new plant that will develop from the germinated seeds as in the photo can develop. Already in the photo, the shell of the seed is visible on the cotyledon leaves.
Regarding this situation, which can occasionally appear in tomatoes, people who are not interested in the subject and have no knowledge about it, are on various websites and newspapers; They made extremely ignorant and unscientific news such as "GMO (genetically modified, transgenic) tomatoes, monster tomatoes, a plant came out of tomato, genetically modified formations came out of tomato" and gave them to all agriculturalists and farmers in the presence of the ministry.
Then they brought the subject to the discussion and conclusion, that it is normal for the seeds bought from Israel to be like this, GMO tomato seeds, why we buy tomato seeds every year. In fact, the subject was just a photograph of tomato seeds germinating early in the fruit.
In the past, vegetable seeds were bought from Israel, but in recent years, the amount of vegetable seeds taken from Israel and other countries such as the USA, Netherlands, France has decreased to 50-60% with the efforts of the domestic seed industry. In other words , 40-45% of vegetable seeds in our country; 60-70% of peppers and tomatoes are produced by domestic and national companies. A significant part of the rest is not supplied from Israel ( the share of Israeli seeds is around 5-6% ) from other foreign seed companies.
The other issue is the GMO issue, which keeps the public busy all the time.
GMO seeds are not used in any type of vegetable grown in our country. It is not legally possible to use GMO seeds in vegetables, fruits and all other agricultural productions grown in our country.
GMO varieties have been developed in cotton, soybean, corn, rapeseed, sugar beet in the world and a potato variety used in the paper industry in Germany. Soybean and corn are taken from abroad as raw materials in our country and are used in white meat production, egg production and cattle breeding.
The necessity of planting vegetable seeds every year is due to hybrid varieties used in vegetable production and some plant species (corn, sunflower). Hybrid varieties are hybrid seeds obtained as a result of crossing two different plant lines, such as Kemer eggplant and Aydın Black eggplant. Hybrid seeds obtained by crossing these two plant types yield hybrid seeds with higher efficiency, quality, and high adaptation to hot and cold temperatures compared to Kemer eggplant and Aydın Siyahı eggplant types.
These hybrid seeds are also used in greenhouses and early season cultivation. Because these seeds are highly productive, they develop quality fruit and can be grown and developed in heated greenhouses under cold winter conditions and summer months.
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Hybrid seeds are seeds obtained by crossing different plants in nature and they are definitely not GMO or transgenic (gene transferred). Since these seeds are obtained by crossing two individuals, they will open or differ when seeds are taken from hybrid plants grown in the greenhouse and replanted the following year. In other words, since the seeds taken are hybrids of two individuals, different plants similar to both Kemer eggplant and Aydın Siyahı eggplant and their hybrids will develop from the next seeds, as well as plants with lower yields, not resistant to cold, and bearing poor quality fruit compared to the two. Because they are not hybrids and they showed expansion. The reason they open or differ is that they are no longer hybrids.
Therefore, producers prefer to buy new seeds or seedlings again next year so that they get high yields, their plants develop well, and all plants in all parts of the greenhouse show the same characteristics, so that vegetables with the quality and aroma that the consumer desires can be obtained.
Hybrid or hybrid vegetable seeds are not GMO and are one of the plant breeding techniques that first started in maize in the 1920s and continued in other plants. Hybrid varieties are obtained as a result of crossing two individuals with superior quality or by crossing one productive and the other resistant individuals. Some plants, one of which is very productive and high quality, and the other is a weak, unproductive genotype, very high quality, high yielding hybrid varieties have been developed.
Every year, seed companies make hybrids between two parent plants to obtain hybrid seeds and obtain hybrid seeds. Hybrid seed production requires a very costly seed production. Plants belonging to 2 parents used in production are grown and pollen from the father line is crossed with the main line during the flowering period and the seeds of the fruits formed on the main line are taken, packaged and hybrid seeds are offered to the market.
Without hybrid seeds, the vegetables people need would not be available in sufficient quantities, and many people would not be able to consume enough vegetables.
News about tomato seeds sprouted in fruit;
A cafe operator in Şanlıurfa proved that the tomatoes he bought to make salads at dinner were GMO. Kartal Polat, the cafe operator from Şanlıurfa, said that he was surprised when he saw that the tomato he bought for cooking turned out to be GMO. Polat, who was deceived by the outward appearance of the peddler, said that while he was starting to chop the tomato, there were sprouting in the tomatoes.
The cafe operator Kartal Polat said, "The peddler was passing by my workplace. I bought cauliflower or something in the evening. I thought I'd make a nice salad once. I bought tomatoes and cucumbers. There was a thing called 'GMO'. We didn't know what it was. But it means GMO. Let them see. I bought 4-5 tomatoes and they all came out the same. There seems to be almost no one without sprouting in them, all of them are like that. Tomatoes have sprouting in them," he said.
Sources
Dr. Ercan ÖZKAYNAK