Impact on Growth, Yield and Diseases Incidence of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) Hybrid Arka Samrat under Front Line Demonstration

Abstract

Background: Majority of the farmers in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh cultivate commercial hybrids which were low yielding and susceptible to pests and diseases. In this situation, introduction of high yielding hybrids with resistant to pest and diseases (Arka Samrat) were necessary to enhance productivityand to reduce cost of cultivation. Methods: KVK, Yagantipalle were conducted frontline demonstrations (FLDs) during 2020–2022 in Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh, to evaluate the performance of the IIHR hybrid Arka Samrat against the widely grown farmer’s hybrid PHS 448. Experimental research design was used, total of 30 farmers selected purposively from Kurnool district in whose FLD plots were conducted along with control plot was taken into consideration for the study to evaluate the impact of growth, yield and diseases in tomato triple disease resistant hybrid of Arka Samrat. Result: Results revealed that Arka Samrat consistently better performed over PHS 448, recorded higher fruit yield/plant (47.9 vs 29.3), yield/plant (4.43 vs 2.01 kg) and yield/ha (66.4 vs 40.2 t/ha). MANOVA confirmed, highly significant hybrid effect (Wilks’ λ = 0.019, p less than 0.001), with fruits per cluster and plant height emerged as key determinants of productivity. Diseases in Arka Samrat had a significantly lower incidence of Early Blight (6.35%), TLCV (3.99%) and BW (2.59%) compared to PHS 448, with 63-83% of reduction. Study results revealed strong hybrid effects, fruits per cluster and plant height as key yield determinants. Also higher yield efficiency and disease tolerance make Arka Samrat a promising hybrid for cultivation under agro-climatic conditions of the Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh.