Productive Performance of Tomatoes under Fertigation Management (original) (raw)
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Crescimento do tomateiro e partição de matéria seca em função da qualidade da água de irrigação
Revista Ciência …, 2008
In this study, the growth and dry matter partitioning of processing tomato cv IPA 6 were evaluated under irrigation with waters of different electrical conductivities (ECw) and sodium proportions in a completely randomized 5x2 factorial design. Seedlings were transplanted to rhizotrons and irrigated daily, being the dry masses of stem, branches, inflorescences and fruits determined at the end of the crop season. The soil was removed from the rhizotrons at 15 cm depth intervals, washed and sieved to determine the dry mass of roots at each soil layer. Shoot dry mass was reduced by 6.9% for each unit increase of salinity. Root dry mass decreased in the 30-45 cm layer and increased in the 0-15 cm layer due to the accumulation of salts in the deeper layer promoted by the leaching. Salinity and sodium proportions did not affect root growth, which increased after transplanting, reaching its maximum of 50 cm day-1 during the period between 30 and 40 days after transplanting. Dry matter partitioning was practically unaffected by salinity and sodium proportions.
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2006
Irrigation with saline water affects tomato fruit quality. While total fruit yield decreases with salinity, inner quality characterized by taste and health-promoting compounds can be improved. For a detailed description of this relationship, the influence of three different salt levels [electrical conductivity (EC) 3, 6.5, and 10] in hydroponically grown tomatoes was investigated. Rising salinity levels in the nutrient solution significantly increased vitamin C, lycopene, and -carotene in fresh fruits up to 35%. The phenol concentration was tendentiously enhanced, and the antioxidative capacity of phenols and carotenoids increased on a fresh weight basis. Additionally, the higher EC values caused an increase of total soluble solids and organic acids, parameters determining the taste of tomatoes. Total fruit yield, single fruit weight, and firmness significantly decreased with rising EC levels. Regression analyses revealed significant correlations between the EC level and the dependent variables single fruit weight, total soluble solids, titrable acids, lycopene, and antioxidative capacities of carotenoids and phenols, whereas vitamin C and phenols correlated best with truss number, and -carotene correlated best with temperature. Only pressure firmness showed no correlation with any of the measured parameters. As all desirable characteristics in the freshly produced tomato increased when exposed to salinity, salinity itself constitutes an alternative method of quality improvement. Moreover, it can compensate for the loss of yield by the higher inner quality due to changing demands by the market and the consumer. This investigation is to our knowledge the first comprehensive overview regarding parameters of outer quality (yield and firmness), taste (total soluble solids and acids), nutritional value (vitamin C, carotenoids, and phenolics), as well as antioxidative capacity in tomatoes grown under saline conditions.
Effects of irrigation regime and salinity on soil characteristics and yield of tomato
Italian Journal of Agronomy, 2012
A field experiment was conducted in Mediterranean conditions to evaluate the effects of different irrigation volumes and water quality on yield performance of tomato crop. The tomato crop was irrigated reestablishing 50 (I1), 75 (I2) and 100% (I3) of the crop evapotranspiration (ETc) with two water quality: fresh water with EC 0.9 dS m -1 (FW) and saline water with EC 6 dSm -1 (SW). At harvest, total and marketable yield, weight, number, total soluble solids (TSS) and dry matter of fruit were calculated, The results showed no statistical differences among the three different irrigation volumes on tomato yield and quality. The salinity treatment did not affect yield, probably because the soil salinity in the root zone on average remained below the threshold of tomato salt tolerance. Instead, salinity improved fruit quality parameters as dry matter and TSS by 13 and 8%, respectively. After the first field application of saline water, soil saturated extract cations (SSEC), electrical conductivity of soil paste extract (ECe), sodium absorption ratio (SAR) and exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) cations increased; the largest increase of cations, in particular of Na, occurred in the top layer.
Influence of electric conductivity management on greenhouse tomato yield and fruit quality
Agronomie, 2001
The osmotic and ionic effects of the electrical conductivity (EC) of the nutrient solution and its interactions with climatic factors and cultural practices on tomato yield and fruit quality are reviewed. Adjusting the salinity of the nutrient solution allows growers to modify water availability to the crop and hence improve fruit quality. At some point, however, increases in salinity limit marketable yield. Under high ECs, fruit size is inversely related to EC while the dry matter content of the fruit is linearly increased by the EC. The exact rate of yield decline varies with interactions between cultivars, environmental factors, composition of the nutrient solution, and crop management. According to different studies and growth conditions, salinities higher than 2.3-5.1 mS⋅cm-1 result in an undesirable yield reduction, while ECs of 3.5-9.0 mS⋅cm-1 improve tomato fruit quality. Manipulating the indoor climate such as humidity, temperature and ambient CO 2 level may offset the negative effect of high salinity on yield and fruit quality such as blossom-end rot. The light intensity received by the plant directly affects the quantity of photoassimilates available to the fruit, it also increases their sugar: acid ratio, and influences the transpiration rate and the water uptake by the plant, which in turn, affect the EC around the root. Increasing the EC with NaCl reduces titratable acids, potassium and nitrogen in the fruit but also increases their sodium content. NaCl enhances the sweetness of tomato fruit and improves the overall flavour intensity. Depending upon the composition of the saline solution, ion toxicities or nutritional deficiencies may arise because of a predominance of specific ion or competition effects among cations and anions. Keeping the proper nutrient levels and ratios between all the nutrients in the root environment for each growth stage of a crop should be targeted in order to achieve high yields and high quality products throughout the cropping season. Several EC and fertigation management regimes could improve fruit quality and are presented in this review.
International Journal of Food, Agriculture and …, 2008
In order to obtain high quality cherry tomato in closed soilless systems, the nutrient solutions must have a high electric conductivity (EC), so are often enriched with NaCl or their concentrations are increased by adding greater quantities of some major elements (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, etc.). The purpose of this research was to compare two different ways of increasing the initial EC of the nutrient solution for greenhouse tomato growing in a nutrient film technique (NFT). The initial EC of the nutrient solution was increased by doubling the concentrations of the macro-elements or adding NaCl, in order to maintain the EC above 3.5 dS m -1 . The studied effects were: i) production and quality of the fruits; ii) water use efficiency and element use efficiency; and iii) environmental impact of the cultivation system. Doubling the concentrations of the macro-elements (N, P and K) the total production and the discarded fruits were increased by 8 and 52%, respectively. The addition of NaCl increased by 6% the percentage of fruits with a diameter between 25 and 35 mm, class most appreciated by the consumers. The principal parameters of the organoleptic quality (total soluble solids, ascorbic acid, titratable acidity and dry matter content) were not influenced by the source of the salinity. The quantity of water used was similar in the two experimental treatments (3400 m 3 ha -1 , in average). However, the addition of NaCl allowed a meaningful reduction in the quantities of nutrients utilised, with inclusive savings of 11% (for S) and 20% (for P), without any meaningful decrease in marketable yield.
Influence of salinity and water regime on tomato for processing
Italian Journal of Agronomy, 2012
The effects of salinity and watering regime on tomato crop are reported. The trials have been carried out over two years in southern Italy on a deep loam soil. Three saline levels of irrigation water (with electrical conductivity of 0.5, 5 and 10 dS m-1), three watering regimes (at 20%, 40% and 60% of available water depletion), and two cultivars (HLY19 and Perfectpeel) were compared. The overall results related to the salinity tolerance are in agreement with those from the literature indicating that water salinity reduced marketable yield by 55% in respect to the control treatments. The irrigation regimes that provided higher total and marketable yield were at 40% and 60% of available water depletion (on average, 90.5 and 58.1 Mg ha-1 against 85.3 and 55.5 Mg ha-1 of the 20% available water depletion). Saline and irrigation treatments did not affect sunburned fruits, while affected incidence of fruits with blossom-end rot. The former disease appeared more dramatically in saline treatments (+28% in respect to the control), and occurred mainly in HLY19. The disease incidence was by 52% lower in W2 respect to the W1 and W3. Fruit firmness was higher in S0, whereas it was not affected by irrigation regimes. Total soluble solids and dry matter content of tomato fruits were increased by salinity, whereas it was not affected by irrigation regimes and cultivars. The pH and the titratable acidity remained unchanged between the years, the cultivar and the saline and irrigation treatments. Similarly to the last parameters, the fruit ascorbic acid content remained unchanged in relation to the treatments, but it was higher in HLY19. The recommended thresholds of easily available water to preserve total and marketable yield were at 40% and 60%, respectively. Watering more frequently, instead, on the soil type of the trial, probably caused water-logging and root hypoxia affecting negatively yield.
Yield and fruit quality of industrial tomato under saline irrigation
Scientia Agricola, 2006
Industrial tomato is the most important vegetable crop of the Brazilian agribusiness. Few researches have evaluated the tolerance of this crop to saline stress. In this study, the effects of five levels of salinity of the irrigation water (1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 dS m-1) and two equivalent proportions of Na:Ca:Mg (1:1:0.5 and 7:1:0.5) were tested on yield and quality of fruits of industrial tomato, cultivar IPA 6. Seedlings were transplanted in rhizotrons and grown under plastic covering until fruit ripening. Volume of water for daily irrigations was determined by the difference between the applied and drained volume in the previous irrigation. Unitary increase of water salinity above 1 dS m-1 reduced the commercial and total yield by 11.9 and 11.0%, respectively, and increased the concentration of soluble solids and the titratable acidity of the fruits by 13.9 and 9.4%, respectively. The increase of the proportion of sodium reduced the total and marketable yield, the number of marketable...
Journal of Plant Nutrition, 2014
2 Growing tomatoes using saline water and in soils with poor nutrient contents is challenging. The objectives of this work were to: (i) examine the yield and quality of tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum L.) irrigated with different saline water [electrical conductivity (ECi) = 3, 6 and 9 dS m −1 ]; and (ii) study the effect of fertilizer: inorganic, organic, and a mixed of both on tomatoes grown under saline conditions. Fruit weight and quality attributes including size, color, soluble solids, acidity, EC, and pH were measured. Growing tomatoes under 3 and 6 dS m −1 produced the highest yield, whereas irrigating with 9 dS m −1 reduced yield. The mixed fertilizer slightly ameliorated the yield reduction caused by salinity. Using organic fertilizer alone produced the lowest fruit yield. Fruit quality was more affected by salinity than fertilizer. The best growing conditions for tomatoes were in plots irrigated with 6 dS m −1 water under mixed fertilizer treatment.
2020
This research was conducted to determine the salinity level of irrigation water from a dug well, pond and tap water as well as its effect on the yield of a tomato crop at the University of Cape Coast Teaching and Research Farm. Water samples were taken at fortnight intervals to determine the electrical conductivity (dSm -1 ) using the TOA water quality checker 20A. The averages of the four batches were computed and used as the three sources for the period of assessment. Flowering and yield of crop were the parameters used to assess the effect of salinity level on the tomato crop. Electrical conductivity as a measure of salinity was higher in the pond (0.25 dS/m) than the well and tap water (0.07 dS/m and 0.02 dS/m, respectively). Flowering and yield of tomato was high with crops treated with well water (45.22%; 99.08kg/ha) followed by the pond (27.70%; 43.76kg/ha) and tap water (27.08%; 27.25kg/ha) in that order. There was no significant difference in flowering and in yield of crops...
Influence of environment in electro-chemical quality of tomato
HORTICULTURAL
The aim of the research was to investigate the impact of different cultivation environments of tomato cultivars, the electro-chemical and the qualitative traits of the tomato fruits. The quality of tomato fruit harvesting was evaluated at the Laboratory of Institute of Horticulture and Viticulture University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna. Two hybrids of tomatoes were tested Belle-F1 and AmaF1, in two locations and two different treatments (open field and plastic tunnels). Model of experimental fields was based on random method and included three replications. Following parameters were analyzed and tested: pH, Rh, P-Value, Nitrates and the content of vitamin C. The values of pH for treatment in the open field and indoor production system were not significant (4.47 to 5.05). For P-Value derived from the two treatments the maximal values were without significant differences, while minimal values were significant. Study has shown also that the highest values of nitrate content (16.34 mg, open field) compared to average value differences were + 0.384 mg or 43.83% higher. In indoor production the nitrate content was lower in compared with plants cultivated in open fields, so these differences were +3.81 mg or 26.4 0%, and highly significant for both levels. In relation to vitamin C content, the highest value was identified in the indoor system of 298.6 mg, with variations from the overall average of 16.43% or + 42.15 mg. The coefficient of variation values for both levels was of 29.96 respectively 27.31%.