Genetic gain in fruit yield potential and associated traits of tomato [lycopersicon esculuntum (L.) Mill] varieties in Ethiopia

Genetic gain in fruit yield potential and associated traits of tomato [lycopersicon esculuntum (L.) Mill] varieties in Ethiopia | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Genetic gain in fruit yield potential and associated traits of tomato [lycopersicon esculuntum (L.) Mill] varieties in Ethiopia Dagim Demelash Yilma, Tesfaye Walle Mekonnen, Kifle Zerga Heterat This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7234388/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 7 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract In the current study conducted in the Sodo district, 16 tomato varieties released between 1997 and 2015 were evaluated. The experiment followed a randomized complete block design with three replications during the 2024 cropping season. The analysis of variance revealed highly significant differences among the varieties for all traits, except for the number of primary branches per plant and the number of seeds per fruit. The average annual rate of increase per year of variety release, calculated from the slope of the linear regression graph of mean fruit yield against the year of variety release, was estimated to be 0.127 tons per hectare. This corresponds to a relative genetic gain of 0.40% per year. In the last 18 years, recently released varieties demonstrated a yield improvement of 0.40 kg per hectare (1.47%) compared to the oldest varieties. Significant positive trends were observed for marketable yield, fruit diameter, fruit length, fruit width, fruit growth rate per plant, and fruit yield per day. On the other hand, all other traits showed a significant decreasing trend over the years of variety release. Fruit growth rate per plant exhibited high genetic advance (509.61%), while total soluble solids showed the lowest genetic advance (0.74%). The study concluded that the improvement in fruit yield over the past 18 years has been inconsistent. Therefore, further efforts should be strengthened and continued to achieve more progress in these and other relevant traits. This will contribute to the development of an appropriate strategy for tomato fruit yield improvement in the country. Genetic progress Fruit yield Variability Yield component Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 08 Dec, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 03 Dec, 2025 Reviews received at journal 20 Nov, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 02 Nov, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 31 Oct, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 21 Oct, 2025 First submitted to journal 19 Oct, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7234388","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":537867867,"identity":"085e7970-90f4-439a-a2a3-82c404cc6496","order_by":0,"name":"Dagim Demelash Yilma","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Wolkite University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Dagim","middleName":"Demelash","lastName":"Yilma","suffix":""},{"id":537867868,"identity":"8b46ee30-fa2f-4174-bf9b-c63b23a1cfec","order_by":1,"name":"Tesfaye Walle Mekonnen","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Universities of The Free 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Mill] varieties in Ethiopia","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"discover-sustainability","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"disu","sideBox":"Learn more about [Discover Sustainability](https://www.springer.com/43621)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Discover Sustainability","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Discover Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Genetic progress, Fruit yield, Variability, Yield component","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7234388/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7234388/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"In the current study conducted in the Sodo district, 16 tomato varieties released between 1997 and 2015 were evaluated. The experiment followed a randomized complete block design with three replications during the 2024 cropping season. The analysis of variance revealed highly significant differences among the varieties for all traits, except for the number of primary branches per plant and the number of seeds per fruit. The average annual rate of increase per year of variety release, calculated from the slope of the linear regression graph of mean fruit yield against the year of variety release, was estimated to be 0.127 tons per hectare. This corresponds to a relative genetic gain of 0.40% per year. In the last 18 years, recently released varieties demonstrated a yield improvement of 0.40 kg per hectare (1.47%) compared to the oldest varieties. Significant positive trends were observed for marketable yield, fruit diameter, fruit length, fruit width, fruit growth rate per plant, and fruit yield per day. On the other hand, all other traits showed a significant decreasing trend over the years of variety release. Fruit growth rate per plant exhibited high genetic advance (509.61%), while total soluble solids showed the lowest genetic advance (0.74%). The study concluded that the improvement in fruit yield over the past 18 years has been inconsistent. Therefore, further efforts should be strengthened and continued to achieve more progress in these and other relevant traits. This will contribute to the development of an appropriate strategy for tomato fruit yield improvement in the country.","manuscriptTitle":"Genetic gain in fruit yield potential and associated traits of tomato [lycopersicon esculuntum (L.) Mill] varieties in Ethiopia","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-11-03 08:46:03","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7234388/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2025-12-08T11:26:49+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-12-04T03:48:15+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-11-20T10:15:15+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"151451218333024135951134165404323372564","date":"2025-11-03T04:04:44+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-10-31T06:36:22+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-10-21T12:49:32+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Discover Sustainability","date":"2025-10-19T10:12:42+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"discover-sustainability","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"disu","sideBox":"Learn more about [Discover Sustainability](https://www.springer.com/43621)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Discover Sustainability","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Discover Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"97f18e58-d6a8-4eb0-b3d9-e1e2a3981ff9","owner":[],"postedDate":"November 3rd, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-09T17:53:35+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-11-03 08:46:03","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7234388","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7234388","identity":"rs-7234388","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}