TITLE:
Yield and Fruit Quality of Tomato as Influenced by Calcium and Mulching in Rooftop Cultivation
AUTHORS:
Md. Abul Kalam Azad, Mohammad Shafiqul Islam, Md. Isrfil Hossen, Touria El-Jaoual Eaton
KEYWORDS:
Tomato Varieties, Calcium Treatment, Rice Straw, Mulching Practices and Yield
JOURNAL NAME:
Agricultural Sciences,
Vol.10 No.7,
July
18,
2019
ABSTRACT: The experiment conducted in containers known as pot placed on rooftop of a building using noncalcareous grey terrace soil was carried out from October, 2012 to March, 2013 at Kazla, Motihar, Rajshahi, Bangladesh to investigate the influences of calcium and mulching practices on yield and fruit quality of tomato. The study was laid out in a split-split plot design with three replications. The trials comprised three factors: 1) three tomato varieties viz, BARI F1Tomato-5, BARI F1Tomato-6 and BARI F1Tomato-7; 2) four levels of calcium (Ca) treatment (40 ppm, 60 ppm, 80 ppm, 120 ppm) and 3) mulching practices. Results of the experiment revealed that fresh yield of tomato was significantly increased by applying mulching practices due to conservation of soil moisture by mulches and therefore, reduced Ca-deficiency symptoms. The highest number of fruits per plant and fresh yield were obtained from the variety BARI F1Tomato-5. The same trend of yield and yield contributing parameters were likely to be better by using T3treatment (80 ppm) than those of other treatments. In contrast, BARI F1Tomato-7 variety in control treatment without mulching practice gave poor quality and yield of tomato. Results suggested that BARI F1Tomato-5 variety receiving 80 ppm calcium treatment with mulching condition exposed better quality, yield and yield contributing characters of tomato. However, the T3treatment (80 ppm) with mulching would be recommended as the best combination to grow BARI F1Tomato-5 for the farmers in Bangladesh.