EVALUATION OF DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF TOMATO FOR GROWTH AND SEED QUALITY IN DISTRICT SARGODHA CLIMATE

Genetic diversity is a major concern for the enhancement of per plant yield in tomato under various climatic zones. To screen out cultivars to tomato a study was conducted at Adaptive Research Farm, Agriculture Department Sargodha. So, eight different cultivars of tomato were examined in the normal climatic conditions of Sargodha and these cultivars were Rustum, HT-360-C, Surkhail, SVO-141-TJ, HT-361-A, Saahil, Salaar, Saandal and parameters that were studied: sowing date, seed germination, number of days from sowing to germination, germination percentage, transplanting date, seedling size (cm), number of leaves per plant, plant height (cm), days taken to initiate flowering, number of flowers per cluster, number of fruits per cluster, number of flowers per plant, number of fruits per plant, fruit yield per plant, fruit length (mm), chlorophyll content, weight per fruit (g), fruit yield (kg ha-1). Surkhail performed better and produced a significant result in more of the parameters, which were observed in the experiment. Further, it is also proved that the variety Surkhail was suitable for the cultivation under the normal climate of the Sargodha as compared to the other varieties.