GENOTYPIC DIFFERENCES AGAINST PEG SIMULATED DROUGHT STRESS IN TOMATO

Abstract

Current study describes the effect of artificial drought stress using PEG on different tomato varieties at seedling stage. The performance was assessed by germination, root and shoot length, and seedling biomass. The tomato varieties investigated have shown varying responses for different plant attributes against drought stress which remained significantly different for most of the parameters studied. For a given genotype, the effect of PEG was significant for root length and seedling biomass, whereas it was non-significant in case of germination and shoot length. The genotypic differences among tomato varieties investigated were found significant for all the plant parameters studied. Three different types of genotypic behaviors were observed in this study. The genotypes displayed either enhanced or declined growth in case of root, shoot and seedling biomass representing the two behavior types. Whereas, only in case of germination, in addition it also showed third type of behavior and remained indifferent to control and induced drought stress. Among others Walter, Punjab Chuhara & Kurihara have shown enhanced growth for all the parameters when subjected to PEG as compared to control. Money maker was the only genotype where a decline for all the attributes was recorded against drought stress, reflecting its lower tolerance.