Austrian agricultural producers awarded a tomatopotato "Vegetable of 2018". Underground it has usual potato tubers and on it branches you may see pretty cherry tomatoes.
Dutch breeder Bikenkamp made such a hybrid and named it L'Erd2-Tom2 in 2014 after four years of researches: he attached plant cuttings of an early tomato variety Paradeiser to potatoes sprouts. As both varieties belong to solanaceous, crossing process was quite successful.
Sale of tomatopotato saplings started in the middle of April. In English it was named TomTato. The plant is believed to be really useful: it can be grown both in open ground and in pots or buckets with a diameter from 50 cm and more than 40 liters big. During the season it is possible to harvest quite a good crop: about 250-500 cherry tomatoes and 2 kg of potatoes.
By the way, the idea to cross a tomato and potato and receive 2-in-1 harvest first came to Soviet breeders about 80 years ago. Famous Soviet breeder Brusnetsov after long-term researches received the same hybrid and in 1939 presented the fructifying plant at All-Union agricultural exhibition in Moscow.
