A study on adaptation of tomato ecotypes from northern latitudes under southern Iran conditions

Abstract: Tomato hybrids and cultivars from northern latitudes are tolerant to temperature variations and are early maturing crops. In order to produce new cultivars for southwest of Iran, it is necessary and useful to study adaptation of genotypes in this area. The seeds of 74 cultivars from Moscow and 8 hybrids from Netherlands were germinated and then transplanted to Jiffy-pots under plastic tunnels before being transferred to the soil in the field. Growth habits, leaf and inflorescence forms, fruit weight, fruit number, yield in each harvest, total yield and earliness were recorded. There were differences among cultivars for all measured characteristics. Some cultivars had relatively good tolerance to high temperature, and could produce fruits at temperatures higher than 30?C. The tested varieties had different growth habits. Maximum yield was obtained from determinate types, M66, M63, M49 and M48. For most cultivars, the largest fruits were produced in the first harvest while the next harvests had smaller fruits. A negative correlation was observed for fruit numbers and average fruit weight. Also, some cultivars including M39, M46, M74, M40, and M35 exhibited early and more uniform yield per plant compared with control varieties. Some cultivars such as M48 and M66 had late maturity with higher yield as compared with control. The tested entries were classified on the basis of leaf shape, inflorescence, fruit number and weight. Maximum difference was between controls and M27.