In-vivo Screening of Cherry Tomato [Solanum lycopersicum L. var. cerasiforme (Dunnal) A. Gray] Genotypes and Hybrids against Fusarium Wilt in Arunachal Pradesh, India

Cherry tomato [Solanum lycopersicum L. var. cerasiforme (Dunnal) A. Gray] is becoming popular among various tribes of Arunachal Pradesh due to its unique taste, flavor and appearance. Owing high rainfall and high humidity, successful cultivation of cherry tomato is becoming restricted in this state due to various biotic factors like infection of wilt complexes as well as pests like root-knot nematodes. The aim of the present investigation was to evaluate eighteen cherry tomato genotypes (nine) and hybrids (nine) against Fungal wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici resistance in the Pasighat condition of Arunachal Pradesh, India. For screening purpose, artificial pathogen inoculation method was applied through pin-prick method in the 35 days old cherry tomato seedlings that were grown in pot culture containing sterile soil and data for the pathogen infection was recorded by following Completely Randomized Design (CRD) in 60 days and 120 days after pathogen inoculation. Among 18 genotypes and hybrids, G4xG6 (DI:0.00%, PDI:0.00%), G9 (DI:0.00%, PDI:0.00%) and G5 (DI:0.00%, PDI:0.00%) showed highest resistance towards Fusarium wilt, while genotype G3 (DI:65.56%, PDI:63.60%) exhibited susceptible system. The disease incidence was ranged from 0.00%-65.56%. The use of resistant genotypes and hybrids to manage the population of fungus is a very cost effective method and can be exploited commercially in breeding programmes and for vegetable grafting.