Genetic variability, heritability and correlation studies on tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.)

Twenty five tomato genotypes were studied for genetic variability, heritability and correlation studies on tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) at field experimentation center of department of Horticulture, Naini Agricultural Institute, SHUATS, Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India during kharfi 2018-19 in Randomized Block Design. The data was record for nineteen different characters to study genetic variability, heritability, genetic advance, correlation and, analysis of variance among 25 tomato genotypes showed highly significant differences for all the characters indicated the presence of substantial amount of genetic variability. On the basis of mean performance highest fruit yield per plant was exhibited by genotypesPKM-1 followed by Arka rakshak, Pusa hybrid-4 and Arka abha. Highest genotypic coefficient of variance (GCV) and phenotypic coefficient variance (PCV) was observed for plant height followed by fruit weight, number of fruits per plant indicating that these characters could be used as selection for crop improvement. High estimates of heritability were observed for the characters plant height, number of fruits per cluster, days to 50% flowering, fruit length, number of fruits per plant, number of branches per plant, fruit weight. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance were observed for plant height, number of primary branches, days to 50% flowering, fruit length, fruit weight indicating predominance of additive gene effects and the possibilities of effective selection for the improvement of these characters. Correlation study revealed that fruit yield per plant at genotypic and phenotypic level was positively correlated with fruit weight, number of fruits per plant, number of primary branches per plant, number of flowers per cluster, number of locules per fruit. positive non-significant genotypic correlation is seen in fruit width, days to 50% flowering and fruit length.