Bacterial Wilt Incidence and Field Performance ofan Exotic Germplasm ofTomato

Abstract

Bacterial wilt oftomato causedby Ralstonia solanacearum (Smith) Yabuuchi et al is an important disease that limits tomato production in many tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Disease control is difficult because of broad host range, widespread distribution and vast genetic variability of the pathogen (Hayward, 1991). Identifying resistant sources and combining bacterial wilt resistance with other characters like large fruit size and high temperature fruit set should be the main objective of tomato improvement programmes in the tropics.