Morphological and agronomic characterization of tomato under field conditions

• Published in: Pure and applied biology Vol. 6; no. 3; pp. 1021 - 1029
• Main Author: Ali, Qasid
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Quetta International Society of Pure and Applied Biology 10.09.2017
• Subjects: Agricultural production; Agricultural research; Agronomy; Cluster analysis; Correlation analysis; Data analysis; Economic analysis; Economic importance; Experiments; Food quality; Frequency distribution; Fruits; Genetic diversity; Genetic resources; Germplasm; Hybridization; Lycopersicon; Morphology; Physical characteristics; Plant breeding; Plant resources; Seedlings; Seeds; Solanum; Solanum melongena; Statistical analysis; Tomatoes; Trays; Pakistan; California; Islamabad Pakistan; United States > US
• ISSN: 2304-2478; 2304-2478
• DOI: 10.19045/bspab.2017.600108

This experiment was conducted at Plant Genetic Resources Institute, National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad. A total of 156 germplasm accessions of tomatoes of local and exotic origin from the National Genebank of Pakistan at PGRI were used. Agro-morphological traits including 14 quantitative traits were studied. Tomato accessions were grown under a controlled environment and two-week-old seedlings were then transferred to trays which were later on transplanted in the field at 3-4 leaf stage. The accessions were grown in the field with a plant to plant distance of 50 cm and row to row distance of 75. Frequency distribution for all agro-morphological characteristics was studied. Variation was observed for all the parameters studied. Maximum yield per plant was found in accession 17863 while maximum fruit size was observed in accessions LA-3346, Dny-evf-Riograndea (a) and LA-0146 (a). Descriptive statistics showed high variation in case of fruit length, fruit width, pedicel length, total number of inflorescence, and yield per plant which indicates that these characteristics can be improved using the present tomato germplasm. Correlation analysis was performed to know about the morphological characteristics positively correlated with economically important traits. Cluster analysis and dendrogram construction shows the genetic diversity in the germplasm which indicates the usefulness of germplasm for tomato hybridization and breeding.