PRODUCTIVE, COMMERCIAL AND QUALITATIVE CHARACTERIZATION OF SICILIAN LANDRACE TOMATO.

This paper shows the results obtained in 2007 of a study carried out at the Sparacia experimental farm (Cammarata AG, 37°37’N, 13°42’E) aimed at identifying and evaluating 26 populations of “long-life tomato” collected from the Province of Palermo, Agrigento and Trapani. The farm, which belongs to the Sicilian Agricultural Development Agency (E.S.A), is located in a sub-arid area with average rainfall levels of approx. 500 mm and average min/max temperatures of 9 and 21°C. The soil is characterised by level land, deep soil with sandy clay texture and subalkaline soil pH classified as Eutric Vertisols, WRB (FAO-ISRIC-ISSS, 1998). The planting tomato crop was carried out according to traditional agricultural techniques using pocket sowing in paired rows with an inter-double row distance of 1 m and intra-row distance of 0.5 m, and a plant density of 4 plants m-2. Analysis of the test data showed good yields, both regarding quality and quantity production, especially for certain popula¬tions, which could be of interest in research concerning genetic improvements. Good quality levels were observed for the populations ‘6’, ‘14’, ‘18’ and ‘21’, which were also the most productive.