Preliminary evaluation of adaptation of nine tomato accessions to yield characteristics

Abstract

Tomato (Lycospersicon esculentum) is one of the most important vegetables worldwide. The objective of the experiment was to evaluate the performance and adaptability of nine varieties of tomatoes to local environment. The preliminary trial was carried out at the National Horticultural Research Institute (NIHORT) vegetable experimental field in Ibadan. The tomato seeds were collected from Vegefresh, viz: veg 21,veg 5, veg 87-5, veg 7, veg 6, veg 9, veg 8, veg -, and veg 99. The seeds were sown along with two standard check varieties (roma vf and big local). Tomato seedlings were transplanted to the field at 4 weeks after sowing (4WAS). Plant spacing was 50 cm x 50 cm, giving a population of 49 plants initially transplanted to each plot of 3m x 3m. The trial was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block design (RCBD) in four replicates. Weeding was done with a hoe as necessary to reduce weed infestation. Growth parameters were taken fortnightly and the results were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA). The means were separated using LSD. There were no significant differences (P<0.05) in plant height among the accessions except veg 5, veg 8, veg 9, and veg 11. Veg 9 and veg 11 recorded the tallest plants 18.5m and 19.1m, respectively. There were significant differences in number of fruits and fruit weight as veg 21 gave the highest in both 14.2 and 155.8g respectively.