Evaluation of Thirteen Selected Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill) Cultivars for Morphology and Fruit Yield in Southwest Nigeria

Abstract

Assessing the morphology and fruit yield of some grown tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill) cultivars from southwestern Nigeria is needed to identify and promote highly performing varieties for tomato industry. Thirteen tomato cultivars predominantly grown by farmers were collected from farmer’s field across five states in the southwest region of Nigeria. Multisampling procedure was adopted to randomly and purposively select the respondents from the five states. Seedlings of the cultivars were raised in the nursery and transplanted at 4 weeks to the main field where the morphological and yield parameters were evaluated during the early and late cropping seasons of 2012 and 2013. The field experimental arrangement was a completely randomized block in three replications. Data were collected on morphological parameters, phenology and yield performance. The data were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) while means were separated using Duncan Multiple Range Test (DMRT) at 5% level of probability. The result revealed through biodata of tomato farmers in Southwest Nigeria showed that 36% of the farmers saved their seeds for next cropping season while about 47% of the farmers did not know the names of the varieties they cultivate. Also, there is highly significant varietal variation due to seasonal effects. The late season significantly favoured fresh yield. Six out of the 13 cultivars (Gboko, Alausa Long, Beske, Royal, Koledowo and Amatan) were significantly bushy and tall while four cultivars out of the bushy and tall (Gboko, Santana, Beske and Royal) had the highest number of fruits per plant and were not significantly different from each other (69, 67, 67 and 65), respectively. However, the fresh fruit weight per plot were highest in the descending order for Olomi>Amatan >Tiwantiwa (430.83 g, 361.50 g, and 345.00 g), respectively.

Keyword: Random selection, purposive selection, morphology, yield

Cite this Article

Adetoro OA, Amujoyegbe BJ. Evaluation of Thirteen Selected Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill) Cultivars for Morphology and Fruit Yield in Southwest Nigeria. Research & Reviews: Journal of Crop Science and Technology. 2016; 5(3): 1–7p.