Effects of chemical mutagens on the physio-chemical traits of Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum)

A field experiment was conducted at the Horticultural Research station, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar, Odisha during Rabi 2017 and 2018 seasons. Five hundred seeds of variety Utkal Kumari (BT 10) were taken and subjected to single and combined mutagenic treatment as per the specification. The experiment was laid down in Randomised Block Design (RBD) with three replications. Leaf area (dm²/plant), total dry matter and chlorophyll content were measured at 30, 60 and 75 days after transplanting(DAT). NAR (Net assimilation rate) and CGR (Crop growth rate) were also calculated at 30-40 DAT and 50-60 DAT. All the treatments showed increase in yield over control and buffer except in treatment Sodium Azide (SA) 0.06% which indicated that the mutagens had positive effect on the plant for increasing yield. The increase in yield depends on leaf area or photosynthesizing tissues, total respiring tissues or total biomass, photosynthetic efficiency as reflected by chlorophyll content, Net assimilation rate (NAR) and crop growth rate (CGR). Ethyl methane sulphate (EMS) at 0.6% concentration had shown maximum increase in yield which was attributed to maximum leaf area (55.19 dm²/plant), maximum total dry matter (19.44g/plant) and maximum crop growth rate (0.347g.m⁻².day⁻¹). The chlorophyll content and NAR (Net assimilation rate) were also significantly high for this treatment.