GENOTYPIC EVALUATION OF SOME FLUE-CURED VIRGINIA TOBACCO GENOTYPES FOR YIELD AND QUALITY TRAITS

To identify desirable tobacco genotypes for commercial cultivation, an experiment comprising ten fluecured Virginia tobaco genotypes, including one check cultivar, was conducted in randomized complete block design with four replications at the Tobacco Research Station, Mardan during the 2004-2005 tobacco crop growing season (December-August). Data were recorded on yield and some other important plant characteristics. Statistical analysis of the data was performed and the means were separated using the least significant difference (LSD) test. Analysis of variance revealed that the genotypes differed significantly for plant height, number of leaves plant-1, cured leaf weight, cured leaf number kg-1, yield ha-1, nicotine percentage in the cured leaf, grade index and ratio of reducing sugars to nicotine. However, non-significant differences were observed for green leaf number kg-1 and reducing sugars content in the leaves. KHG-21, KHG-23 and KHG-25 excelled in performance for yield and quality related traits and may be used in future tobacco breeding program. These three genotypes can be used as commercial cultivars in the area after multi-location test trials.