Assessing Prominent Quantitative Traits Significantly Correlated with Fruit Yield Improvement in Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) over Seasons

Abstract

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is an economically important vegetable crop, and fruit yield is a complex quantitative trait influenced by several interrelated characters. The present investigation was undertaken to assess associations among yield and yield-contributing traits and to identify prominent quantitative characters related to fruit yield improvement in tomato over seasons. The study used 43 genotypes, comprising 10 lines, 3 testers and 30 F₁ hybrids, evaluated in a Randomised Block Design with three replications at the Horticulture Research Farm, Department of Horticulture, School of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, during the Rabi seasons of 2024–25 and 2025–26. Observations were recorded for 16 quantitative traits, and correlation coefficients were estimated using pooled data. At the genotypic level, total fruit yield per plant showed significant positive associations with fruits per plant (0.836**), average fruit weight (0.729**), equatorial diameter (0.495**), locules per fruit (0.455**), pericarp thickness (0.451**), total soluble solids (0.421**), fruits per cluster (0.412**), number of primary branches per plant (0.312**), plant height (0.263**) and polar diameter (0.244**). At the phenotypic level, total fruit yield per plant was positively associated with fruits per plant (0.837**), average fruit weight (0.697**), equatorial diameter (0.421**), total soluble solids (0.360**), pericarp thickness (0.357**), locules per fruit (0.337**), number of primary branches per plant (0.243**), polar diameter (0.184*), fruits per cluster (0.180*) and plant height (0.174*). The comparable pattern of associations at both levels indicates that these traits may serve as useful selection criteria for yield improvement. The negative association of days to 50% flowering with yield also suggests the relevance of early-maturing genotypes in tomato breeding.