Micropropagation of Solanum lycopersicum (Utkal kumari ) - A Variety of Tomato Cultiver

Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) Family – Solanaceae is one of the important vegetable crop in the world after patato (Mohamed et al., 2010).Tomato is edible,often red fruit/berry of the nightshade Solanum lycopersicum,commonly known as a tomato plant.It is relatively short duration crop and gives high yield, tomato is one of the most widely cultivated crop in the world as a whole (Peirce,1987 and Opena and Kyomo,1990). It is economically attractive and the area under cultivation is increasing (Naika et al., 2005). Tomato occupied an area about 3.9 million hectores all over world, tomato is one of the most important protective food crop of India. It is grown in 0.458M ha area with 7.277 M mt production and 15.9 mt/ha productivity. Tomato is ranked among the top three vegetable crops namely cabbage, tomato, onions in their order of importance (TAHALA report, 2000). It is ranked at the top of all fruits and vegetables as a source of vitamins and minerals in (Stevens, 1974).Tomato plays a major role in human nutrition. It is an excellent source of phosphorus, iron and vitamine A,B,and C (Cobley and Steele, 1976; Varela et al., 2003 and Naika et al., 2005).