Evaluation of Tomato (Solanum Lycopersicon L.) For Morphological Attributes and Yield Under Envirodome Greenhouse Conditions

Abstract

Envirodome greenhouse technology has become a widely accepted and profitable system for vegetable production particularly in Ghana. However, plant varieties best suited for the Envirodome have not been fully exploited in Ghana. Thus, an experiment was carried out at the Forest and Horticultural Crops Research Centre (FOHCREC), Okumaing-Kade in Ghana from July 2018 to April 2019 to assess eight different types of tomato for some morphological and yield attributes under Envirodome greenhouse conditions. Six accessions (Tenegru-2010, Tanya, CLN3024A, CLN3212C, FMTT1733E and CLN3900d) from Asia Vegetable Research Development Center (AVRDC) and two varieties (Jaguar F1 and Nkansah HT) locally obtained were used in the study. The six accessions and the two varieties were arranged in a Randomized Complete Block design (RCBD) with three replications. Some morphological descriptors for plant traits and fruit traits were recorded and scored using the AVRDC-GRSU characterization record sheet. Correlation analysis was also performed to know about morphological traits positively correlated with economically important traits. The study revealed that CLN3212C and Jaguar F1 showed the best performance for some morphological attributes such as average fruit weight (size). In terms of yield CLN3212C, Jaguar F1, and Tanya recorded maximum yield of 34.81t/ha, 34.48t/ha and 20.98t/ha respectively. However, in terms of quality, the accession FMTT1733E recorded highest Brix (o5.60) whiles Tanya and Jaguar F1 produced the thickest pericarps measuring 0.80cm and 0.73cm respectively. Longest shelf life averaging 24 days was also obtained by Tanya and Jaguar F1. Farmers who use the Envirodome greenhouse technology and desire high yielding tomato varieties may cultivate CLN3212C, Jaguar F1, and Tanya while those who grow tomato for processing may also cultivate the variety Jaguar F1, and accessions FMTT1733E and Tanya