Screening of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) hybrids with their parents for various growth related parameters under drought stress

Abstract

Worldwide, tomatoes are being cultivated in tropical and temperate regions under varied amount of precipitation. Water shortage affects the growth and production to a greater extent. Yield is reduced when the drought stress is observed at early vegetative and reproductive stages. Thus, the vital aim of plant breeding program is to enhance yield under drought stress. In this study screening of three tomato hybrids and their parents with a hybrid check, for drought stress has been carried out in Factorial completely randomized design (FCRD) with three replication and two levels of water application i.e., 100 and 50 percent field capacity. Observations on growth and yield parameters were recorded. Among the hybrids, EC 177824 X LE 27 recorded highest number of flowers per truss (6.89 and 5.92), individual fruit weight (46.30 g and 44.83 g), number of fruits per plant (39.65 and 26.55) and yield per plant (1.84 kg and 1.18 kg) in both treatments (100% FC and 50% FC) and also recorded early flowering (23.67 days) and maximum root length (35.87 cm) under drought stress condition.