Study of genetic variability and correlation analysis of quantitative traits in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.)

The present study was carried out with seventy-eight genotypes of tomato during the Kharif 2021 at Vegetable Experimental Field, Sher Kashmir University of Agricultural Science and Technology-Kashmir, Shalimar, Srinagar. The experiment was conducted in Randomized Block Design with three replications. Observations were recorded on eighteen quantitative traits. The results revealed significant variation among genotypes for the characters studied. Among all the genotypes, SK-T-63 showed the highest fruit yield per hectare (977.05q hec^-1). Higher phenotypic and genotypic coefficients of variation (PCV and GCV) were observed for fruit yield per hectare, fruit yield per plant and number of fruits per plant. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance as per cent of mean were observed for number of fruits per plant, seed yield per plant, average fruit weight, fruit yield per hectare, fruit yield per plant, pericarp thickness, number of locules and number of pickings. The yield per hectare displayed positive correlation with number of pickings, number of fruits per plant, fruit length, fruit diameter, pericarp thickness, number of locules per fruit, number of primary branches, number of fruits per cluster, plant height, average fruit weight, and fruit yield per plant. The findings suggested that average fruit weight, number of fruits per plant, fruit length, fruit diameter and number of locules per fruit should be considered as important characters for improvement of tomato through selection.