Genetic variability studies in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) from pomato grafts

The present investigation was initiated at the Research Farm of the Department of Vegetable Science and Floriculture at CSK HPKV, Palampur, in 2019–20 and 2020–21. The experimentation was designed in a randomized complete block design with three replications, and the data was worked out for various growth, yield, and quality traits of tomato of the pomato plant to investigate the genetic variability. The outcomes of the investigation showed that the phenotypic coefficient of variation was found to be higher than the genotypic coefficient of variation. Pericarp thickness, number of fruits per plant, titrable acidity, reducing sugar, total sugar, TSS:AR ratio, shelf life, ascorbic acid, non-reducing sugar, total carotenoids content, lycopene content, tomatine content of unripe fruits and tomatine content of ripe fruits, and fruit yield per square meter, showed higher genotypic coefficients of variation along with high phenotypic coefficients of variation during the two respective years. Meanwhile, the higher heritability accompanied by a higher genetic advance was noted for the number of locules per fruit, pericarp thickness, plant height, number of fruits per cluster, number of fruits per plant, average fruit weight, shelf life, titrable acidity, ascorbic acid, reducing sugar, total sugar, non-reducing sugar, total carotenoids content, lycopene content, tomatine content in unripe fruits, tomatine content in ripe fruits, TSS:AR ratio, and fruit yield per square meter. These traits could be further used for more precise selection in other crop improvement programs.