ESTIMATES OF GENETIC VARIABILITY AMONG PARENTAL LINES AND F4 TOMATO (SOLANUM LYCOPERSICUM L.) HYBRIDS

Globally, tomato production has continued to grow over recent years, reaching 189.1 million tonnes in 2021, the challenges faced in tomato cultivation in Nigeria are influenced by various factors,Including pests and diseases,climate variability,limited access to quality inputs,post-harvest losses and inadequate infrastructure for storage and processing.This study assess the estimates of genetic variability among parental line and F4 tomato hybrids ,focusing on yield-rate and the quantitative trait differences. Five genotypes of parental line and ten genotypes F4 tomato hybrids were accessed using three replicates (3 pots in a replicate)seedlings were transplanted into 135 pots with a Completely Randomized Design. The morphological and agronomic traits such as, plant height,numbers of branches, were measured. Data were analyzed by using ANOVA and Pearson’s correlation in SPSS with genetic parameters estimated. There were significant differences across all measure traits. P5 showed the superior plant height (21.38 cm). P2 has the highest fruit yield(35.64 g.) while height harvested was recorded in H16. Also in H16, the numbers of main branches were high (12.00). Across all traits,heritability was within 21.13 and 99.47. Plant height showed strong positive correlations with all traits, The number of main branches correlated highly with the number of fruits per cluster (r = 0.84**). The findings of this study clearly demonstrate the presence of substantial genetic variability among the parental lines and F4 tomato hybrids evaluated. Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended that genotypes P2, H17, and P5 be advanced in breeding programs due to their superior yield performance.