Tomatoes are being grown as well on a very large scale and most of this crop is produced for processing. The large scale crop is mechanically harvested, a system that began in the 1960s and which greatly increased production. Few earthly plants have traveled in outer space, but tomatoes have. Twelve and a half million seeds of Lycopersicon were put into orbit by the Space Shuttle Challenger on 7 April 1984. After these seeds were returned to earth, they were germinated and grown by student researchers across the United States to visually observe whether the seeds had been affected by cosmic radiation, weightlessness or the increased gravity during launch and landing.
Biotechnology holds the future of tomatoes.
The extensive germplasm collection maintained by Charles M. Rick of the University of California at Davis combined with the detailed knowledge of tomato genetics makes it an ideal plant for molecular research as well as horticultural development. The result has been a sweeter tomato and a higher yield for catsup, tomato paste and tomato sauce. Genetic engineering has brought dramatic changes in recent tomato crops. Marketing of tomatoes with rearranged genetic stock will probably begin in 1994. Just as the 16th century Europeans were highly suspicious of tomatoes, so have 20th century United Stations been of modern tomato agriculture.