Evaluation of varieties of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) for resistance to leaf curl virus in North East India

A field experiment was conducted during three consecutive rabi seasons(2007–08 to2009-10)at Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat, India. A total of 18 tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) genotypes, received under All India Coordinated Research Project on Vegetable Crops, were tested for resistance against leaf curl virus under natural condition. The promising varieties were tested in different agro-climatic zones of Assam particularly Lower Brahmaputra Valley Zone (LBVZ) and Hill Zone (HZ). The pooled data of 3 years revealed that tomato genotype ‘H-24’ exhibited lowest incidence of leaf curl virus of 9.6% up to flowering and fruiting stage as against 20.4% in the susceptible check ‘Punjab Chhuhara’. The genotype ‘H-24’ exhibited the highest fruit yield of 33.7 t ha−1 at Jorhat location which was 35.3% higher than the susceptible check. It showed 117% increase in yield at LBV zone as against best check ‘Arka Abha’ and 21.6% increase in yield in the hill zone over the best check ‘TLBRH-6’. Tomato cultivar ‘H-24’ showed the highest benefit: cost ratio of 4.77 as against 3.60 in the ‘Punjab Chhuhara’. Hence, ‘H-24’ may be recommended for both plain and hill areas of Assam.