Genetic variability and heritability studies in diverse tomato genotypes

Abstract

Tomato is one of the most important solanaceous vegetable that can be grown throughout the year, although its main cultivation season is autumn-winter. The present experiment was conducted utilizing twenty-five diverse genotypes of tomato in the autumn-winter season of 2018-19 for assessing the variability, heritability and genetic advance for different growth, reproductive, fruit morphological, yield and important quality attributes. High degree of variability was observed for all the traits that showed the traits were suitable for selection for further breeding purposes. GCV was higher than PCV for all the characters under study. High PCV, GCV and heritability coupled with high genetic gain was observed for plant height, number of fruits per truss, polar diameter, equatorial diameter, pericarp thickness, locule number, average fruit weight, fruit number per plant, yield per plant, TSS, lycopene content, β-carotene content and total yield. This indicated that additive gene action plays a major role in governing these traits and these traits can be improved by simple selection in earlier generations.