Yield and Fruit Quality of Tomato as Influenced by Calcium and Mulching in Rooftop Cultivation

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 F 1 Tomato-5, BARI F 1 Tomato-6 and BARI F 1 Tomato-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 F 1 Tomato-5. The same trend of yield and yield contributing parameters were likely to be better by using T 3 treatment (80 ppm) than those of other treatments. In contrast, BARI F 1 Tomato-7 variety in control treatment without mulching practice gave poor quality and yield of tomato. Results suggested that BARI F 1 Tomato-5 variety receiving 80 ppm calcium treatment with mulching condition exposed better quality, yield and yield contributing characters of tomato. However, the T 3 treatment (80 ppm) with mulching would be recommended as the best combination to grow BARI F 1 Tomato-5 for the farmers in Bangladesh.