Evaluation of Performance of Five Determinate Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L) Varieties Cultivated in the Glasshouse and Open Field Under Environmental Conditions of Busogo, Musanze district, Rwanda

Abstract

The tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L) remains an important horticultural crop in Rwanda and its domestic demand is increasing with the population growth. However, climate change is having a significant impact on agricultural production worldwide as it causes remarkable yield losses. The knowledge of Rwandan farmers on the variety that can increase yield in different production circumstances remains also unidentified. Therefore, five determinate tomato varieties (Assila F1, Sifa F1, Roma VF, Rionex, and Cal-J) were cultivated in both glasshouse and open field at University of Rwanda, College of Agriculture, Animal Sciences and Veterinary Medicine from September 2019 to March 2020, in order to investigate their performance in both conditions. In open field, the randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replicates was applied. The tomato varieties were grown under low temperature (11-12.5oC minimum and 20-23oC maximum). In glasshouse, the completely randomized design (CRD) with three replicates was used and tomatoes were subjected to the day and night mean temperatures of 36oC and 18oC respectively. They were evaluated on growth and yield parameters as well as their nutritional quality. For tomatoes grown under low temperatures, the highest yield was obtained on Assila F1 (35.8t/ha) with marketable yield of about 89% and Roma VF (27.4t/ha) with marketable yield of 88%. These varieties should be recommended to open field farmers in low temperature areas. However, the plant varieties grown under glasshouse conditions, scarcely produced the tomato fruits to the level that the highest yield obtained was 538.5g/plant on Sifa F1 with the average fruit weight of 30.23g. The highest yield among homozygous genotypes was Cal-J (320.4g) with the average fruit weight of 28. 27g. Nevertheless, this variety has probably acquired certain heat stress transcription factors for thermo tolerance to be considered for further scientific investigations.