Performance Evaluation of Indeterminate Tomato Hybrid Varieties under Walk-In Tunnel in the Agro-climatic Condition of DI Khan, Pakistan

Abstract

This study assessed the yield and yield components of eight indeterminate tomato hybrids—Salar F1 (H1), Sandal F1 (H2), Surkhail F1 (H3), Kormescvije (H4), Stupice (H5), Creole (H6), Moskvich (H7), and Black Prince (H8)—under plastic tunnel conditions in DI Khan, Pakistan during the years 2021-2022. Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) was used with three replications. The study measured days to flowering, days to fruiting, plant height, leaf length, number of fruits per plant, average fruit weight, yield per plant, and yield per plot. Sandal F1 had the shortest time to flowering and fruiting (40 and 60 days, respectively), followed by Surkhail and Salar F1 with intermediate values (43 and 63-64 days). Plant height was the highest in Kormescvije (226.63 cm) and lowest in Creole (157.77 cm), with Salar F1, Black Prince, and Stupice in between them. Stupice had the longest leaf length (14.03 cm), followed closely by Sandal F1, while Surkhail had the shortest leaf length (8.93 cm). Stupice produced the most fruits per plant (153.00), significantly more than Salar F1 and Sandal F1 (83.00 and 94.00, respectively), while Kormescvije produced the fewest (14.00). Kormescvije had the highest average fruit weight (114.2 g), followed by Creole and Moskvich (106.03 g and 98.20 g, respectively), with Salar F1, Sandal F1, and Surkhail F1 showing intermediate average fruit weights. Whereas, Stupice had the smallest fruits (20.20 g). Yield per plant was the highest in Sandal F1 (2.93 kg), followed by Salar F1 (2.40 kg) and Surkhail (2.00 kg), with Moskvich giving the lowest yield (0.63 kg). Overall, Sandal F1 achieved the highest yield per plot (12.90 kg), followed by Salar F1 (10.93 kg) and Surkhail (8.60 kg), while Moskvich and Creole gave the lowest yield (3.03 kg and 4.83 kg, respectively). The study concluded with Sandal F1 as the most productive hybrid under the given conditions, significantly outperforming other varieties, whereas Moskvich showed the lowest performance across most parameters. The means were significantly different at 5% level of significance, indicating distinct performance among the evaluated varieties.