STUDY ON THE PERFORMANCE OF EXPERIMENTAL HYBRIDS IN TOMATO (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill)

Abstract

This experiment was conducted to study the performance of experimental hybrids in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum mill.) during the period from November 2013 to April 2014 at the experimental field of the Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University, Dinajpur. The experiment was laid out in the Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Yield and yield components of ten different tomato parents and their twenty two F, hybrids were compared in this research work. Analyses of variance for all the characters were showed significant differences among the genotypes. From the research work it was found that, the lowest number of days for 50% flowering was recorded in three way cross hybrid and highest days found in single cross hybrid. The highest single fruit weight was observed in three way cross hybrid (49.68g) and the lowest of them were observed in single cross hybrid (23.09g) which also showed the minimum shelf life (8.23Days). The single cross hybrid produced the maximum number of marketable fruits per plant (133.8) and also highest fruit yield per plant (4028g/plant) whereas the lowest fruit yield observed in three way cross hybrid (1514g/plant). On the other hand, the minimum number of marketable fruits/plant (42.12) and maximum shelf life (16.13Days) were observed in double cross hybrid. Among the crosses, the highest significant positive heterobeltosis for number of marketable fruits/plant and yield/plant were observed in single cross hybrids. In case of shelf life, the highest significant positive heterobeltosis was found in double cross hybrid. For days to 50% flowering significant negative heterobeltosis i.e. early flowering was observed for most of the crosses except only a single cross hybrid. The result revealed that the hybrid C,, produced from single cross showed the best performance for yield contributing traits compared to other hybrids and the check variety and it was identified as promising for commercial cultivation among the tomato single, double and three way cross hybrids.