Skip to content
DraconiticResearch
Search Sources API
203,948 studies31 sourcesUpdated 22 min ago
Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Frontiers in Plant Science

Small-statured tomato plants for automating greenhouse production: opportunities, constraints, and research priorities

  • Zixin Yao1
  • Leo F. M. Marcelis1
  • Ad N.M. de Koning2
  • Gene A. Giacomelli3
  • Tadahisa Higashide4
  • Ep Heuvelink1
4 affiliations
  1. 1Horticulture and Product Physiology, Department of Plant Sciences, Wageningen University & Research
  2. 2Ridder
  3. 3Controlled Environment Agriculture Center, The University of Arizona
  4. 4National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Institute of Vegetable and Floriculture Science
Open at sourcePDFDOICite

Abstract

Systems based on small-statured plants could contribute to the future of automated tomato production, but require an integrated approach of cultivation, crop management, plant physiology, breeding, robotics, and modelling. Greenhouse tomatoes are typically grown according to a high-wire system, where plant stems reach 10 m or more in length during one cycle of production. This system has served the industry for about 50 years, and allows for near-continuous year-round production, high yield, and good fruit quality. However, it is labor intensive, requiring manual fruit harvest, pruning of side shoots and leaves, as well as training the stem around the support string. The viability of high-wire cultivation is now challenged by high labor costs and shortage of workers. In this perspective paper, we propose two alternative tomato production systems: dwarf tomato and limited-truss tomato (LTT). They both produce small-statured tomato plants with short cultivation cycles, which may improve compatibility with automated production. We evaluate and compare the two production systems based on yield, light use efficiency, fruit quality, and labor requirement. Future directions for both research and industry for innovative tomato production are presented as well.

Related

  1. Strategies Used to Improve the Performance of Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria Under Agricultural Greenhouse and Field Production Scenarios in Semi-Arid Conditions
    José Humberto Valenzuela-Soto, Adolfo Baylón-Palomino, Jorge Luis Méndez-Hernández +2
    Plants (Basel, Switzerland)Peer-reviewedCC BYFull textPlant biologyEurope PMC
  2. Toward lower-emission beef production: research gaps and opportunities.
    Logan R Thompson, Sara E Place, Troy N Rowan
    Animal frontiers : the review magazine of animal agriculturePeer-reviewedCC BYFull text1 citedEcologyEurope PMC
  3. Cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment of pasteurized milk production in Uzbekistan identifies environmental hotspots and improvement opportunities
    Narges Samanian, Mohammad Ali Hesarinejad, Ulugbek Sadullayev +1
    Scientific ReportsPeer-reviewedCC BY-NC-ND 4.0Full textEcologyCrossref
  4. Glutamine-derived NADH fuels lactate production to maximize ATP yield under oxygen consumption constraints in head and neck cancer
    C. Odendaal, R. Dalhuisen, M. Hoving +9
    bioRxivPreprintCC BYFull textSystems & synthetic biologybioRxiv
  5. Formulation, stability, and delivery of bacteriophage cocktails in veterinary medicine: a review of physicochemical constraints and therapeutic outcomes in production animals
    Muhammad Muneeb, Mohamed Tharwat, Aftab Shaukat +4
    Frontiers in veterinary sciencePeer-reviewedCC BYFull textEcologyEurope PMCEurope PMCPMC

Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{yao2026smallstatured,
  title = {{Small-statured tomato plants for automating greenhouse production: opportunities, constraints, and research priorities}},
  author = {Zixin Yao and Leo F. M. Marcelis and Ad N.M. de Koning and Gene A. Giacomelli and Tadahisa Higashide and Ep Heuvelink},
  journal = {Frontiers in Plant Science},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.3389/fpls.2026.1966159},
  url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2026.1966159/full},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Small-statured tomato plants for automating greenhouse production: opportunities, constraints, and research priorities
AU  - Zixin Yao
AU  - Leo F. M. Marcelis
AU  - Ad N.M. de Koning
AU  - Gene A. Giacomelli
AU  - Tadahisa Higashide
AU  - Ep Heuvelink
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/28
JO  - Frontiers in Plant Science
DO  - 10.3389/fpls.2026.1966159
UR  - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2026.1966159/full
AB  - Systems based on small-statured plants could contribute to the future of automated tomato production, but require an integrated approach of cultivation, crop management, plant physiology, breeding, robotics, and modelling. Greenhouse tomatoes are typically grown according to a high-wire system, where plant stems reach 10 m or more in length during one cycle of production. This system has served the industry for about 50 years, and allows for near-continuous year-round production, high yield, and good fruit quality. However, it is labor intensive, requiring manual fruit harvest, pruning of side shoots and leaves, as well as training the stem around the support string. The viability of high-wire cultivation is now challenged by high labor costs and shortage of workers. In this perspective paper, we propose two alternative tomato production systems: dwarf tomato and limited-truss tomato (LTT). They both produce small-statured tomato plants with short cultivation cycles, which may improve compatibility with automated production. We evaluate and compare the two production systems based on yield, light use efficiency, fruit quality, and labor requirement. Future directions for both research and industry for innovative tomato production are presented as well.
SN  - 1664-462X
ER  -