Effects of chemical mutagen (sodium azide) on tomato grown in organic and inorganic fertilized soil

Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum); a member of the family Solanacea is a commercially important vegetable throughout the world both for the fresh fruit market and food industries. The research was carried out in the green house at Science Laboratory Technology of the Oke-Ogun Polytechnic, Saki, Oyo State. Improved dry seeds of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) was obtained from the Institute of Agriculture Research, (I.A.R&T), Ibadan, Oyo State and were subsequently treated with Sodium Azide aimed at determining the effects of Sodium Azide as a known mutagen on tomato grown with organic and inorganic fertilizer. All the parameters were monitored for six-months with everyday documentation of variants (variables). Highly significant differences were observed in the treatments with respect to the studied parameters (seed germination, seedling survival, seedling height, root length, number of leaves per seedlings, height at maturity, number of branches per plant and fruits per plant) and various chemicals found in the soil sample. Treatment and chemical interactions were similarly highly significant in tomato with Sodium Azide and organic fertilizer with respect to all parameters evaluated and the chemical composition showed better performance compared to tomato seeds grown with inorganic fertilizer. Conversely, Sodium Azide could be utilized as an induced of variability for the improvement of tomato likewise organic fertilizers