Evaluation of tomato hybrids for resistance to leaf curl virus disease and for high-yield production

The leaf curl disease of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) caused by tomato leaf curl virus (ToLCV) poses a serious production constraint throughout the world. An evaluation for resistance to ToLCV and four horticultural traits was carried out using 10 parents and 45 F1 hybrids during the autumn of 2014–2015. Screening against ToLCV was done under both induced natural disease conditions and whitefly (Bemisia tabaci Genn.)-mediated inoculation, with symptoms ranging from symptomless to very severe infection. Under the natural disease conditions, seven parents and 20 F1 hybrids appeared symptomless until the fruit maturation stage. Using the artificial inoculation technique, six parents and 18 hybrids showed resistance at 60 days post inoculation. The correlation coefficients indicated that breeding for ToLCV-resistant hybrids enhanced total yield, fruit weight and total soluble solids content of fruits under natural disease conditions. Based on screening for resistance to ToLCV and four horticultural traits, we identified 4 tomato hybrids, namely CLN 138A × CLN 138B, CLN 138B × PVB-1, CLN 104 × CLN 154 and CLN 17 × PVB-1 to be favorable for commercial use. These hybrids showed resistance after undergoing the whitefly-mediated inoculation, produced 40% higher yield, and were either superior or at par for fruit weight, TSS and lycopene content when compared to the commercial control under natural disease conditions.