11. Impact of water stress on various plant traits of different tomato varieties at early growth stage
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Abstract
Tomato belongs to family solanaceae and is a source of many antioxidants important for human health like B- carotene, lycopene, ascorbic acid etc. Its production is challenged by many abiotic stresses including water stress on the top. Genetic potential of ten tomato genotypes was evaluated under normal and water stress conditions in Department of Plant Breeding & Genetics, Ghazi University, D. G. Khan. Nursery of these genotypes was raised in plastic pots. Seedlings were transplanted in the field under completely randomized block design (RCBD) after three to four weeks of germination. Data on various seedling traits were recorded. Highly significant results were found for analysis of variance in many plant traits. Correlation analysis indicated vegetative traits have mostly positive and significant association with each other like plant height and number of leaves have positive correlation with number of branches. GIACIER and DONA among all genotypes of tomato having best performance under normal and water stress conditions for plant traits like root length, fresh shoot weight, fresh root weigh, dry root weight, number of branches and plant height. So, these varieties are recommended for further breeding program and can be grown under water stress conditions for high yield.
Keywords: Correlation; Genetic variability; Plant traits; Tomato; Vegetative stage