Performance of Tomato Varieties during Rainy Season under Plastic House Conditions

Abstract

Plastic house technology and arrival of hybrid varieties have increased the possibility of tomato cultivation in rainy season in high hills. An experiment was conducted to assess the performance of tomato varieties under plastic house for two consecutive years from 2009 to 2010 at National Commercial Agriculture Research Program (NCARP), Pakhribas (1750m), Nepal. The experiment consisted of eight tomato varieties namely, All Rounder, Bishesh, Dalila, Manisha, Srijna, Suraksha, Trishul and US-04 laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The varieties differed significantly for all observed traits. The highest marketable yield was recorded from All Rounder (86.6 t ha-1) followed by Srijana (80.8 t ha-1). Srijana took the shortest period for flowering and harvesting with an average of 37 and 77 days after transplanting respectively. This was also the tallest variety (268.7 cm) with more clusters (36.23) per plant. However, the highest average single fruit weight was recorded from Manisha (61.94g), and the largest fruit size in US-04 with a diameter of 5.78 cm. Based on yield parameter, the varieties All Rounder and Srijana are recommended for commercial cultivation under plastic house conditions.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/njst.v12i0.6473 Nepal Journal of Science and Technology 12 (2011) 17-22