International Journal of New Technology and Research (IJNTR) ISSN:2454-4116, Volume-2, Issue-10, October 2016 Pages 75-78 75 www.ijntr.org Abstract— Tomato (SolanumlycopersicumL.), an annual vegetable,second in production after potato of solanaceae family. Tomato is number one in processed vegetables. For the improvement in the genetic architecture, Heterosis breeding is most popular and successful approach in tomato. For the present study, six diverse tomato cultivars viz, ArkaSaurabh, ArkaAbha, ArkaMeghali, Punjab Chhuhara, Best of All and Sioux, selected on the basis of high yield coupled with high quality, were crossed in a half diallel fashion to obtain fifteen cross combinations. Three cross combinations viz, ArkaMeghali x Punjab Chhuhara, ArkaSaurabh x ArkaAbha and ArkaSaurabh x Punjab Chhuhara resulted in significantly positive heterosis over mid parent, better parent, for pericarp thickness. For total soluble solids, positive and significant heterosis over mid and better parents were observed in three cross combinations viz,ArkaSaurabh x ArkaMeghali, Punjab Chhuhara x Best of All and ArkaMeghali x Sioux. Best of All x Sioux and Punjab Chhuhara x Sioux showed highest significant positive heterosis over mid parent and better parentfor shelf life. While, for one of the most important quality trait lycopene content, ArkaSaurabh x ArkaMeghali, ArkaSaurabh x Punjab Chhuhara, ArkaSaurabh x Best of All and ArkaAbha x Best of All resulted in significantly positive better parent and mid parent heterosis.ArkaSaurabh x ArkaMeghali was the best cross combination for Lycopene content and total soluble solids. Index Terms— Heterosis, Lycopene, Shelf Life,Tomato,TSS. I. INTRODUCTION Tomato (SolanumlycopersicumL.) 2n=2x=24 is one of the most important vegetable crop grown widely all over the world. It is a member of Solanaceae family and is native to Central and South America (Vavilov, 1951). In the world, it ranks second in importance after potato but tops the list of processed vegetables (Chaudhary, 1996). It is a verygood source of income for small and marginal farmers andalso contributes to the nutrition of the consumer (Singh et al., 2010). The ripe fruits are taken as raw or made into salads, soups, preserve, pickles, ketchup, puree, paste and many other products (Chadha, 2001). In India, it occupied an area of 8.82 lakh hectares with a production of 18.73 million metric tonnes with an average productivity of 21.23 metric tonnes per hectare. Uttarakhand Pawan Kumar, Department of Vegetable Science, College of Horticulture, VCSG Uttarakhand University of Horticulture, Bharsar-246123, Pauri Garhwal, Uttarakhand. Ajaya Paliwal, Department of Crop Improvement, College of Horticulture, VCSG Uttarakhand University of Horticulture, Bharsar-246123, Pauri Garhwal, Uttarakhand. is one of the tomato growing state covering an area of 9.08 thousand hectare with a production of 113.65 thousand metric tonnes and an average productivity of 12.51 metric tonnes per hectares (NHB 2013-14). The productivity level of the state is much lower to nation which further raised the need to develop location specific superior cultivars adapted for the region.Hybrids which better in both yield and quality is need of the hour to provide better marketing opportunities to the marginalised farmers of hills. Heterosis in tomato was first observed by Hedrick and Booth (1907) for higher yield and more number of fruits per plant. It manifests in tomato in form of greater vigor, faster growth and development, earliness in maturity, increased productivity, improved quality and higher levels of resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. Tomato is a self-pollinated crop, the unusual high heterosis observed in it has been attributed to the fact that originally tomato was a highly cross pollinated genus which has later evolved into a self-pollinated one (Rick 1965). The present study was under taken to estimate the extent of heterosis for quality traits like lycopene content, TSS, shelf life and pericarp thickness in order to get better quality hybrids along with improved yield. II. MATERIALS AND METHODS Six diverse tomato cultivarsviz, ArkaSaurabh, ArkaAbha, ArkaMeghali, Punjab Chhuhara, Best of All and Sioux were selected on the basis of high yield coupled with high quality, and crossed in a half diallel fashion to obtain fifteen cross combinations. The seedlings of parents were raised in November, 2013 and further transplanted in polyhouse to attempt crossing and generate F1.The seeds of crosses were harvested in April-June, 2014. The F1 seeds along with parents were planted during August, 2014 for their evaluation and generation of data. Two checks were taken to get maximum accuracy in estimation of heterosis which is commercially utilizable. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. The seedlings were raised in August-2014 and transplanting of each entry in the block was done on 25th August-2014. There were twelve plants of each entry in each replication in a plot of 1.8 x 1.8 m2 with a spacing of 60 cm x 45 cm. The standard cultural practices were followed to raise the tomato crop.Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed as explained by Gomez and Gomez (1983) while the heterosis was analysed and tested for significance as per Nadarajan&Gunasekaran (2012). Heterosis breeding for quality improvement in tomato (Lycopersiconesculentum Mill.) for cultivation in mid hills of Uttarakhand Pawan Kumar, Ajaya Paliwal