Heterotic expression for yield and its component in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill)

Five diverse cultivars of tomato namely KS-16, Azad T-3, Angoorlata and KS-29, KS-7 were crossed in all possible combinations excluding reciprocals to identify the nature of various quantitative traits for devising the suitable breeding methods for their improvement. Observations were recorded on five randomly selected plants from each treatment for yield & other contributing traits viz. days to flowering, days to maturity, number of fruits per bunch, weight per fruit (g), fruit length (cm), fruit width (cm), number of fruit bearing branches, total number of fruits per plant, plant height (cm) and total yield (kg/plant). Heterosis over mid parent & superior parent was calculated as per standard method. In the present study, four heterotic crosses over superior parents, based on yield & their performance in related parameters, in order of merit were KS-16 x Azad T-3, Azad T-3 x KS-7, Angoorlata x KS-7 & KS-16 x Angoorlata whose value ranges from 65.181 to 98.62%. On the basis of per se performance & sea effect also the crosses KS-16 x Azad T-3, Azad T-3 x KS-7, Angoorlata x, KS-7 & KS-16 x Angoorlata were found to be most specific crops combination. Thus these four hybrids may be recommended for commercial exploitation after further evaluation.