Genetic Variability, Heritability and Genetic Advance Studies in Diverse Genotypes of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.)

The present experiment was conducted utilizing sixteen diverse genotypes of tomato in the autumn-winter season of 2022-23 for assessing the genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance for different growth, reproductive and yield attributes. Analysis of variance revealed significant differences among all the genotypes for all the characters. High degree of genetic variability was observed for all the traits that showed the traits were suitable for selection for further breeding purposes. GCV was higher than PCV for all the characters under study.High PCV accompanied by high GCV was recorded for fruit yield per plant (kg) and fruit yield per plot (kg), number of clusters per plant, plant height (cm), number of primary branches per plant, number of fruits per plant, locule number, average fruit weight (g), number of flower per cluster, however the difference between the PCV and GCV was paltry, which indicating the high contribution of genetic component in phenotypic expression of these characters that provide higher selection efficiency. High heritability along with low genetic advance was observed for, days to first flowering, days to first fruit setting, days to 50% flowering, fruit equatorial diameter (mm), polar diameter (mm), locule number, number of fruits/plantand fruit yield / plant (kg), whereas low heritability with low genetic advance was revealed for pericarp thickness (mm) and no of primary branches/plant which suggests that these traits are highly influenced by the environmental effects and governed by the non-additive gene action, hence selection would not be effects for these particular traits. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance (GA) was recorded for average fruit weight (g) andplant height (cm) which indicates the presence of additive gene action; hence selection could be employed for these traits and provide the opportunity for higher selection response.