Evaluation of qualitative traits in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) Germplasm

Twenty three germplasm of tomato augmented from ICAR-NBPGR, India, WVC, Taiwan and various vegetable research stations were evaluated in RBD in field conditions and were characterized based on 11 qualitative traits viz., leaf type, foliage cover, stem thickness, stem pubescence, stem pigmentation, flower size, flower colour, fruit shape, immature fruit skin colour, blossom-end fruit shape and pulpiness. Genotypes differed significantly in traits explaining uniqueness of characters. The exclusive solitary or combination of characters will be useful as morphological markers in selection of segregating populations and also useful for varietal identification in DUS testing. These traits may be utilized in further improvement studies through various breeding strategies.