Online ISSN 2312-7945 Biswas, et. al. / Journal of Bioscience and Agriculture Research Research Paper Published online: 04.01.2015, Vol. 03 (01): 01-07, 2015 1 | Page This work is licensed under a Creative Commons license. Published with open access at http://www.journalbinet.com/ Comparison of Growth and Yield Characteristics of BARI Tomato Varieties M. Biswas 1 , D. R. Sarkar 2 , M. I. Asif 3 , R. K. Sikder 4 , H. Mehraj 5 and A. F. M Jamal Uddin 5* Dept. of Agriculture Extension, Ministry of Agriculture, Bangladesh 1 Dept. of Soil Science 2 , Dept. of Seed Technology 3 , Dept. of Horticulture 5 Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka Horticulture Development Division, BADC, Dhaka, Bangladesh 4 Corresponding author * : jamal4@yahoo.com Abstract An experiment was conducted at Agronomy Farm of the Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka to study growth and yield responses of tomato varieties. Experiment consisted of four varieties, viz. BARI Tomato-4 (V 1 ), BARI Tomato-5 (V 2 ), BARI Tomato-7 (V 3 ) and BARI Tomato-9 (V 4 ) using Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. Tallest plant (101.3 cm), maximum number of leaves (114.1/plant) and maximum number of branches (10.0/plant) was found from BARI Tomato-7. While maximum number of flowers (6.1/cluster), number of fruits (5.0/cluster), number of clusters (17.9/plant) were found from BARI Tomato-9. However, maximum fruit diameter (20.1 cm), individual fruit weight (115.9 g), yield (34.7 kg/plot and 95.9 t/ha), number of locule (4.4/fruit) were also found from BARI Tomato-7. Virus infestation, fruit length and Total soluble solid (TSS) were statistically identical among the varieties. Key words: Tomato, varieties, growth and yield I. Introduction Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) belonging to the family Solanaceae, is one of the important, popular and nutritious vegetables grown in Bangladesh during winter season and cultivated in all parts of the country (Haque et al., 1999). Bangladesh produced 102 thousand tons of tomato in 15.8 thousand hectares of land during the year 2008-2009 and the average yield being 6.5 t/ha (BBS, 2010) which is very low in comparison with that of other countries. The yield of tomato in our country is not satisfactory enough in comparison to requirement (Aditya et al., 1999). The yield of tomato depends on numerous factors including genotype or the variety. Plant breeders have produced hundreds of tomato varieties to suit every climate, garden site and taste. Various cultivars produce fruit that range in size from small marbles to giant grapefruits (Benton, 2008). Breeding over the past 50 years has substantially changed the tomato plant and its fruit characteristics. Varieties available today for use by both the commercial and home gardener have a wide range of plant characteristics. Cultivar selection is one of the critical decisions that the commercial grower must make each season. Variety selection is a dynamic process. Some varieties may remain favorable for many years while others might be supplanted by newer cultivars after a few seasons (McAvoy and Ozores-Hampton, 2010). By this time BARI released a good number of varieties. Present experiment was conducted to find out the morphological response for higher yield of four BARI released tomato varieties.