Tomato-eggplant tree developed in Italy

PALERMO, Italy, July 12 (UPI) -- An amateur botanist in Italy said he has developed a tree that grows both eggplants and tomatoes.

Giuseppe Marino of Sicily said the tree was created by grafting eggplant and tomato plants onto a devil's fig shrub, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.

He said the shrub, which is resistant to disease and can handle dry conditions, could help answer to the problem of world hunger.

''The eggplant and tomato tree can by cultivated anywhere,'' Marino told ANSA. ''It only needs pruning in winter and it bears both eggplants and tomatoes from April until September or October."