Effects of Pinching Time on Growth and Fruit Yield of Three Tomato Varieties (Lycopersicon lycopersicum Mill) in the Southern Guinea Savanna Zone of Nigeria

Abstract

Purpose: Field experiment was conducted at the teaching and Research Farm, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso and Niger State College of Agriculture, Mokwa, in 2012 cropping season to examine the effects of pinching on growth and fruit yield of tomato. The experiment had twelve treatments of three varieties (Ogbomoso Local, Mokwa Local and UC82B) of tomato and four pinching times (0, 2, 4 and 6) weeks after transplanting (WAT) replicated three times. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) and data were collected on plant height, number of leaves, number of flowers, number of fruits and total fruit yield.

Material and Methods: Data was analysed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) SAS package and treatment means compared using least significant difference (LSD) at 5% probability level.

Results: The results showed that un-pinched plants gave the highest plant height (39.5 cm) while pinching at 2 WAT gave the least (33.7 cm). UC82B gave the highest fruit yield (23.10 t ha-1) while Mokwa Local recorded the least (12.00 t ha-1). Plants pinched at 4 WAT gave the highest fruit yield (19.60 t ha-1) and the least (12.5 t ha"‘1) was obtained from un-pinched plants.

Recommendation: Based on the findings, UC82B and pinching time of 4 WAT may be recommended for the farmers within the study areas.