Effect of fast neutron irradiation on agronomic traits of three tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) cultivars

Abstract

Fast neutron irradiation (FNI) has been successfully utilized in the development of plant varieties with superior agronomic traits. This study thus, investigated the effect of different irradiation doses on some agronomic parameters of three selected tomato accessions (NG/MR/5/9/006, NG/AA/9/9/037 and NHGB/09/114). Exactly two hundred seeds of each accession were exposed to FNI obtained from an Americium-Beryllium source with a flux of 1.5×104 cm-2s-1 for 30, 60, 90 and 120 minutes, equivalent to 4 rad, 8 rad, 16 rad and 24 rad, respectively. The non-irradiated seeds served as control. The seeds were planted in experimental pots arranged in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) in three replicates. Results revealed significant differences (p < 0.05) in germination percentage with control having the significantly (p < 0.05) highest (90 %) in NG/MR/5/9/006 while NG/AA/9/9/037 and NHGB/09/114 revealed significantly (p < 0.05) higher germination percentage of 90 % and 83 %, respectively at 4 rad. No significant difference (p > 0.05) was observed in number of fruits per plant of NG/MR/5/9/006. A significant increase (p < .05) was observed in number of fruits per plant of NG/AA/9/9/037 and NHGB/09/114 at 4 rad (2.60 ± 0.60 and 4.00 ± 1.05, respectively) and 24 rad (2.60 ± 0.51 and 4.40 ± 1.12, respectively). The significantly highest weight of fruits and number of branches at fruiting were recorded at 90 minutes of exposure (16 rad) in all the accessions. NG/AA/9/9/037 had significantly higher number of seeds per fruit (107.33 ± 6.67) while no significant difference was observed in number of seeds per fruit. This study revealed significant enhancement in some growth and yield parameters of seeds exposed to fast neutron irradiation and demonstrates that fast neutron irradiation is an excellent tool for enhancing the efficiency of breeding Solanum lycopersicum and evolving higher yield variants through proper selection.