Abstract
Tomato is a sensitive crop to a variety of environmental stresses, especially drought. Therefore, the objective of the present work was to screen for drought tolerance at seed and seedling (vegetative) levels for better understanding of drought mechanisms and identification and selection of the most tolerant tomato genotypes. Twenty four (24) tomato genotypes were screened for drought tolerance using 0%, 4% and 14% polyethylene glycol 6000 (PEG 6000). The experiment was laid in complete randomized design with three replication and three treatments. The following parameters: germination percentage, shoot length, root length, shoot and root weight and recovery date were recorded in the course of the experiment. There was no significant difference in germination percentage between control and low PEG. However, significant differences were observed between control and low concentration of PEG when compared to high PEG concentration. Water stress created by PEG 6000 at high concentration (14%) significantly reduced all the parameters measured in all the genotypes. Overall, NGB01357, L00170 and NHGB/09/113 performed better under drought conditions and could be very vital in breeding program.
Highlights
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is an important fruit crop grown worldwide with a total world production of 159 million tons and a value of $74.1 billion on a cultivated area estimated at 5 million ha (FAO, 2011)
These genotypes were obtained from two different sources: twenty two (22) genotypes from the National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (NAGRAB) Ibadan, Nigeria and 2 cultivars were bought from commercial centers of agricultural products (CCAP)
The highest germination percentage was recorded at control while the lowest at 14% PEG 6000 even genotypes NHGB/09/120 and NGB01301 recorded zero germination percentage
Summary
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is an important fruit crop grown worldwide with a total world production of 159 million tons and a value of $74.1 billion on a cultivated area estimated at 5 million ha (FAO, 2011). It is one of the most economically important crops and worth a tremendous amount of money because it gives more yields (FAOSTAST, 2013). The yield of tomato in West Africa Nigeria is not too promising, especially when compared to that of developed countries. Climate variability is one of the challenges faced in the world, especially in the developing countries, to maintain the food security
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