Evaluation of tomato (Lycopersicon lycopersicum Mill.) for fruit yield and yield components in the southern Guinea Savanna ecology of Nigeria

Abstract Field experiments were conducted at the Teaching and Research Farm of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi during the 2010 and 2011 rain fed cropping season with the objective of evaluating the performance of tomato varieties in the Southern Guinea Savanna ecology of Nigeria. The experimental design was a randomised complete block design with three replications while four varieties of tomato namely Roma Savanna VF (an improved variety), two hybrid varieties (F1 Lindo and F1 Jaguar) and a local variety (Local check) constituted the treatments. Highly significant variety effect was observed for all the traits (days to flowering, fruit length, fruit diameter, number of fruit s/plant, weight of fruits/plant and fruit yield) studied, indicating that the varieties evaluated are genetically diverse. The highest values for fruit length, fruit diameter, number of fruit s/plant, weight of fruits/plant and fruit yield observed for Roma Savanna VF is an indication that this variety has the potential for good performance in the southern guinea savanna ecology of Nigeria. Further studies on multi-locational evaluation of Roma savana VF along with more varieties including the local variety (local check) is required prior to the recommendation of Roma savana VF for adoption in the southern Guinea Savanna ecology of Nigeria.