Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine the most appropriate planting date for the growth, yield and quality of tomato varieties under rain fed conditions. Field experiments were conducted in the Teaching and Research Farm of Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Benin, Nigeria. The design for this experiment was a 3 x 4 factorial arrangement fitted into a randomised complete block design (RCBD) replicated three times. The treatments consisted of four planting dates, D1(14 th of April), D2 (28 th of April), D3 (12 th of May) and D4 (26 th of May) 2016 and three tomato varieties (Roma VF, UC 82, and Roma savannah). Planting dates significantly affected growth, yield, and quality of tomatoes. The earliest planting date D1, performed better than other planting dates in all the vegetative parameters measured. The highest fruit yield (9.79 t ha -1 ), number of flowers per plant (17.94) and earliest days to fruit maturity (63.00) was produced at D1. Roma Savanna produced the highest number of flowers (11.69) per plant and vitamin C content (21.10 mg). The moisture content (94.02 %) was lowest in Roma VF while the crude protein, crude fibre and ash content (19.31%), (0.57%) and (7.46%) respectively were higher. UC82 had the highest percentage moisture content (94.32%) and ether extract (0.59 %). The study showed that any of the three varieties (Roma VF, UC 82, and Roma savana) could be used at either D1 or D2 as a rain fed crop in this locality