Fourteen entries consisting of six parents and eight crosses developed by crossing two males (testers) and four females (lines) following line x tester design were evaluated in three replications in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) in two locations. Ten plants where randomly sampled for recorded observation. Data were collected from the following characters; trichome count, plant height at 60DAT, number of leaves per plant at 60DAT, number of fruits per plant, weight of fruits per plant % damaged fruits and number of days to final harvest. Data were subjected to biometrical analysis. Result of the analysis of variance indicated highly significant difference for all characters among entries except weight of fruits per plant. The result suggested the presence of genetic variability among the tomato genotypes under study. Significant difference were observed in the combining ability analysis of variance in all the agronomic characters under study except for trichome count suggesting both additive and non-additive genetic effects were important in governing this characters under study with more preponderance of additive effects. The cultivars, Cherry, Currant, UC28B and RomaVF were identified as the best general combiners and the best yielders in terms of number of fruits per plant with appreciable tolerance to heat damage. N and long 12º 15′E) and the Teaching and Research Farm of Adamawa State University, Mubi (latitude 10º 03′N and long. 13º 07′E) all in Adamawa state of Nigeria. Fourteen entries consisting of six parents and eight crosses developed by crossing two males (testers) and four females (lines) following line x tester design were evaluated in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Ten plants where randomly sampled for recorded observation. Data were collected on Trichome count, plant height at 60DAT, number of leaves per plant at 60DAT, number of fruits per plant, weight of fruits per plant % damaged fruits and number of days to final harvest. Data were subjected to biometrical analysis. Result of the analysis of variance indicated highly significant difference for all characters among entries except weight of fruits per plant. The result suggested the presence of genetic variability among the tomato genotypes under study. Significant difference were observed in the combining ability analysis of variance in all the agronomic characters under study except for trichome count suggesting both additive and non-additive genetic effects were important in governing this characters under study with more preponderance of additive effects. The cultivars, Cherry, Currant, UC28B, and RomaVF were identified as the best general combiners and the best yielders in terms of number of fruits per plant with appreciable tolerance to heat damage. However, Currant x Roma vf and Cherry x Golden roma exhibited some level of heterosis in number of leaves, number of flower clusters, number of fruits per plant and plant height. Cherry and Currant, though identified as having highest performanc...

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Heritability estimates for soluble solids, bulb firmness and bulb weight were earned out in two ways, namely, parent-offspring regression and half-sib family lntra-class correlation. Leaf characters were estimated only by half-.sib mtra-class correlations. For soluble solids the values were high (72 % and 58 % respectively), while the values for bulb weight and bulb firmness were low (20 % and 39 %, and 32 % and 33 % respectively) using the two methods. Some high additive genetic correlations were observed between bulb firmness and length of longest leaf [r^ = 0.830), bulb weight and leaf area of longest leaf {j,^ -0.704).In Nigeria storage of omon bulbs has been a ma|or constraint to farmers. Investigations show that up :o 75 % of storage losses have been recorded over a storage of 7 months (AGBAJI ct al. 1980). This problem can only be solved by producing varieties that store better m the local storage houses used by farmers, or those that are excellent for food processing industries as dehydrated onion. Because local white onion is thought to have a potential for improvement as variety suitable for dehydration, this heritable variation should be explored for breeding purposes. High dry matter content of the bulb has been found to enhance storability (FosKETTand PETERSON 1950) and is a major factor for varieties used m dehydration (SETHI et al. 1979). Materials and MethodsLocal white onion bulbs from collections were planted and the seed bulbs raised from them were grown to produce bulbs in 1979/80 dry season. The harvested bulbs were stored from April to September 1980, during which period the sprouted and rotten bulbs were frequently removed. In October 1980, 100 randomly selected bulbs were planted in an isolated field free from other onion pollen sources, for the production of maternal half-sib family seeds.Open pollination occurred, thus each plant was assumed to have equal opportunity to act as the pollen parent to each of the families. The limitations which might have prevented complete randomness were: variations in plant vigor and differences in flowering dates; if selfmg also occurred, all these could bias the heritability estimates. However, the uniformity with which the isolation plot matured suggests that these limitations, even if they have occurred, would be very negligible. The analysis for soluble solids was measured by the land type refractometer as outlined by MANN and HOYEE(1945). U.S. Copyright Clearance Center Code Sutemem: 01 79-954 1 /86/9703-0232$02.50/0

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