Influence of Rootstocks on Yield and Quality of Summer Tomato cv. 'BARI Tomato-4'

The appropriate rootstock is the prerequisite for successful tomato production based on the grafting technique. The present study was conducted to evaluate the suitable rootstock combination(s) on the growth, yield and quality attributes of (Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute) Tomato-4. The experiment was consisted based on the four scion-rootstock combinations such as T-0= Tomato-4 (Non-grafted plant), T-1= Tomato-4 grafted on the Sunchalo rootstock, T-2= Tomato-4 grafted on the brinjal rootstock and T-3= Tomato-4 grafted on the wild tomato rootstock. The results of the grafted plants showed significant variations in all properties compared to non-grafted one except for plant height. The grafted plants on the Sunchalo rootstock was found better for a number of branches, clusters, fruits per plant, fruit length, diameter and weight rather than the other grafted and the non-grafted ones. The individual fruit weight ranges from 44.84 (non-grafted) to 57.88 g (grafted with Sunchalo) and the total yield (60.87 tons/ha) were found maximum in Sunchalo rootstock. Fruit quality properties (i.e. vitamin C, protein, lycopene, and beta -carotene contents) were found better with Sunchalo rootstock rather than the other treatments. But fruit color, TSS (total soluble solids) and phenols content were not affected by the treatments. It is therefore concluded that grafting on Sunchalo rootstock was noted as the best on the basis of morphological, yield contributing and quality traits of the tomato fruit.