Grafting-Induced Variability and Seasonal Variations in Tomato

Three different varieties of tomato (Lycopersicon lycopersicum Mill) with different phenotypic traits were grafted with the aim of inducing variability that could be used in the improvement of some quality traits of tomato. Tongue approach grafting was applied on to the seedlings of three tomato varieties (Roma, UC and a Local variety). The result obtained revealed highly significant difference (P¿0.01) in the number of fruits, fruit weight, fruits diameter, pericarp thickness and number of seeds/fruit of the grafted tomatoes with respect to the controls. Similarly, significant improvement (P¿0.05) was also recorded on the pH of the fruit juice. The result implies that grafting induces important quality traits that are of high economic value in tomato. It was deduced that variety Roma responds more to grafting treatment when used as parent stock.