EVALUATION OF TOMATO GERMPLASM FOR SALINITY TOLERANCE AT THE SEEDLING STAGE

Salinity consists of critical abiotic stress adversely affecting tomato growth and development. Given the increase in saline areas, breeders endeavor to develop crops that can tolerate salinity. It indicates the importance of genotypes that can grow in salt-affected soil to cope with the problem. This study focused on identifying salt-tolerant and salt-sensitive genotypes using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). This study used a two-factor factorial under a complete randomized design, with three replications and three levels (T-0 = control, T-1 = 6 dS/m, T-2 = 12 dS/m) of salt (NaCl) treatment. Data collection ensued at the seedling stage. Data for various morphological and biochemical attributes were recorded and subjected to analysis of variance and PCA to check the variation in germplasm and identification of suitable genotypes. Analysis of variance showed significant results for all attributes indicating the presence of variability in germplasm. Using PCA identified tolerant and non-tolerant tomato genotypes. Based on the results obtained from PCA analysis, genotypes AUT-318, CLN-2498A, 17884, Picendanto, 17260, 17256, 17263, and 17266 showed as salt tolerant, whereas the 19903, 19908, Target-66, H-24, 17255, Nadir, and Peelo displayed as salt-sensitive genotypes. Selected genotypes suit further use for the development of breeding material.