Study of Genetic Variability and Heritability in Cherry Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L. Var. cerasiforme) Genotypes

Twenty-nine genotypes of cherry tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L. var. cerasiforme) were evaluated for their genetic variability and heritability. A wide range of genetic variability was observed for twenty traits of cherry tomato genotypes. The analysis of variance was significant for all the characters indicating genetic variability in the genotypes under the study except number of locules per fruit. The highest phenotypic and genotypic coefficient of variation were observed for lycopene (43.12, 42.94), total carotenoids (42.82, 42.51), average fruit weight (42.52, 42.50), fruit yield per hectare (42.29, 42.24). In general Phenotypic Coefficient of Variation (PCV) was marginally higher than the corresponding Genotypic Coefficient of Variation (GCV) indicating the less influence of environment in the expression of traits under study. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance as percentage of mean was observed for almost all characters indicating that most of the traits studied were mainly controlled by additive gene effect and thus selection may be effective.