Effects of Harvesting Stages, Packaging Materials and Storage Duration on Seed Quality of Tomato (Lycopersicon lycopersicon Mill) Varieties
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Abstract
Three laboratory experiments on two varieties of tomato (Gianfranco Fuscello and Rio-grande) were conducted in 2017 and repeated in 2018.The experiments were aimed to study the effects of harvesting stages, packaging materials and storage duration on seed quality of tomato varieties. Two varieties of tomato, three harvesting stages, three packaging materials and three storage durations were used as treatments in a 2x3 and 2x3x3 factorial in Completely Randomized Design with four replications. Observations were recorded on germination counts (6 and 12 days after planting), post-emergence mortality, germination percentage, germination rate, germination index, seedling height, seedling fresh weight and seedling dry weight. Tomato fruits were harvested at three different stages as green matured, partially ripened matured and ripened matured at 40, 60, and 80 days after anthesis. Results were as follows; eighty days after anthesis recorded higher germination counts (6 and 12 days after planting), germination percentage, germination index, as compared to other harvesting stages; Aluminum foil bag was significantly higher in all the parameters observed; while the highest germination percentage was found after 3 months of storage. The study therefore recommends 80 days after anthesis as the best harvesting stage of tomato for optimum seed germination, growth and yield; also, aluminum foil is recommended as packaging material for farmers for adoption; Duration three and six months of storage are also recommended to farmers for better seed quality of tomato.
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References
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