HETEROSIS AND ESTIMATION OF GENETIC PARAMETERS FOR VEGETATIVE GROWTH AND FLOWERING CHARACTERISTICS IN TOMATOES

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted in the field of Horticulture Department, College of Agriculture, University of Baghdad during three spring seasons(2000,2001 and 2002). The objective was to evalute 10 varieties of tomatoes and their hybrids.The ten varieties of Lycopersicon esculentum Mill[1]دSuper strrain (2) Castel rock (3) IPA1008 (4) Hind (5)Shahad (6) Imperial (7) Imperial select (8) Red cloud (9)Amreia 56 (10) Super regina] were crossed in all possible combinations including reciprocal, using Griffing method 1. The traits for crosses; parents and commercial hybrid (Sun 6108) were tested in furrow irrigated field ( 2001) and under dripping irrigation system (2002) using partially balanced Triple Lattice Design with three replications. The hybrids(54) significantly higher in plant height While the hybrid (106) was significantly higher in the no. of leaves, leaf area, no. of inflorescences/plant. The hybrids(6×2) and (9×4) produced higher fruit set percentage (89.2 and 70.19 %). Hybrids(1 × 4) and (97×) showed earliness for flowering . The degree of dominance of hybrids was variable depending on studied character and growth season. Broad-sense heritability ranged from high to medium for all studied characteristiss Narrow-sense heritability was height in date of flowering and plant hieght for both seasons.