‘Punjab Gaurav’ and ‘Punjab Sartaj’: Tomato varieties for polynet house cultivation

Abstract

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is a versatile
vegetable grown throughout most of the world under
protected and open field conditions. It is one of the most
sensitive crop plants and its production is often
constrained due to various biotic and abiotic stresses.
In north Indian plains, tomato grown in the open
experience extreme weather conditions, i.e. sub-optimum
temperature in January- February and extreme high
temperature in May-June. Generally, it is a warm season
crop requiring a relatively long growing season with
plenty of sunshine. It is sensitive to frost. Under low
temperature, the plant growth is restricted and fruit
setting is less. Fruit setting is restricted to a relatively
narrow daytime temperature range of 20-28oC. The
critical factor in setting of fruit is the night temperature,
the optimum range being 15-20oC (Anonymous 2010).