टमाटर की वैज्ञानि‍क खेती

Tomato is an inexpensively most important crop worldwide. Tomato is a popular vegetable of Bihar with an area of 46.27 thousand ha, production of 1011MT and productivity of 21.85ton/ha. In India also, the high nutritive value of tomato has helped this vegetable to be in regular consumption list, either as table purpose, culinary purposes or as processed products.

As a major vegetable growing region, the state of Bihar significantly contributes to the total tomato production in India. It has prominent place in human food. A brief account of its cultivation is given below.

Varieties of Tomato:

Climatic  Requirement for tomato cultivation

The tomato is a warm-season crop and day-neutral plant. The crop does well under an average monthly temperature of 21⁰C to 23⁰C but commercially grown at 18⁰C to 27⁰C.

Temperature and light intensity affect the fruit-set, pigmentation and nutritive value of the fruit. Long dry spell and heavy rainfall both show a detrimental effect on growth and fruiting and require day/ night temperature is <38⁰C/ >13⁰C.

Soils for tomato farming

Soil which is well-drained, fairly fertile rich in organic matter with a fair water holding capacity is ideal for tomato cultivation. It grows well in light sandy soil. Light soils are good for an early crop, while clay loam and silt-loam soils are well suited for heavy yields. Tomatoes do best in soil that has a soil reaction from pH 6.0 to 7.5. If the soil is acidic lime is applied.

Seed rate for tomato

For raising the seedlings in nursery bed 300 - 400 g/ha seeds are required. For hybrid seeds are very costly so it should be sown in plastic plug trays which require only 100-125 g/ha seed are required

Time of tomato planting

Tomato is a day-neutral plant so wildly it found grown in any season. In the northern plains three crops are taken but in frost affected area rabi crop is not fruitful. The Kharif crop is transplanted in July, rabi crop in October - November and Zaid crop in February months. In the southern plains where there is no danger of frost, The first transplanting is done in December-January, Second June-July Third in September-October depending on the irrigation facilities available.

Raising seedlings

• A net area of 250 m² may be required to raise the seedling for one hectare.
• Seedlings are grown before one month of transplanting raised beds of 60-100 cm width and of convenient
• Soil solarization of nursery beds by covering them with a white transparent polythene sheet for one month should be done in hot summer months. It will kill the disease-causing organisms like fungus, bacteria, nematode as well as insects and seeds of weeds.
• For one m2 of nursery area apply 5kg well rotten FYM and 20 g of each N, P, and K fertilizer, and also apply 2.5g carbofuran or 200 g of neem cake and 10-25 g Trichoderma.
• While preparing the nursery beds, neem cake / castor cake/ neam leaf/ castor leaf/ Pongamia leaf/ calotropis leaf has to be incorporated @ 400 g/m² for protection against
• After sowing the seeds, mulch with green leaves and irrigate with a rose-can daily in the Remove the mulch immediately after the germination of the seeds. Restrict irrigation one week before transplanting and irrigate heavily on the previous day of transplanting.
• Cover the nursery bed with a fine nylon net to escape the damage by virus transmitting
• Nowadays, the nurseries are being raised in a low tunnel and low-cost polyhouse use of transparent plastic sheet as low tunnel provides an ideal condition for successfully raising of seedling than the conventional method. The utility of low-cost polyhouse for raising seedling in winter month facilitates transplanting in short time for spring planting in plains. The use of agro nets protects the seedling from insect pests and reduces the vector born viruses infestation and damaged by other insects. The beds are covered with straw or polythene sheet until the seed germination ever week, if required a fungicide such as Ridomil or Difolation 0.25% should be sprayed to post-emergence damping off.

Seed treatment

• To avoid damping-off disease treats the seed with Trichoderma @ 5-10 g/Kg seed or carbendazim 2g/Kg
• The treated seeds are dried in shade for 30 minutes and then sown sparsely along the lines in ½ cm depth and then covered by the

Preparation of field

Land should be prepared well to make the soil suitable for the transplanting of tomato.It’s prepared to a fine tilth by thorough ploughing or digging 2 - 3 times. At the last ploughing organic manure and 10 kg, carbofuran granules or 200 kg neem cake has to be applied. At the time of soil preparation raising the planting bed above ground level facilitates drainage during rainy seasons and its practice is followed during winter season to enhance the plant growth by conserving the soil heat.

Nutrient requirement and management

Apply well rotten farmyard manure/compost @ 20-25 t/ha at the time of land preparation and mix well with the soil. A fertilizer dose of 75:40:25 kg N:P₂O₅: K₂O / ha may be given. Half the dose of nitrogen, full phosphorus and half of potash may be applied as basal before transplanting. One-fourth of nitrogen and half of potash may be applied 20-30 days after planting. The remaining quantity may be applied two months after planting. The application of micronutrients like Zn, Cu, and boron significantly increased the number of fruits per plant, yield and quality.

Transplanting

• The transplanting is done in small flatbeds or in shallow furrow depending upon the availability of
• In heavy soil, it is usually transplanted on ridges and during the rains also it is advantageous to plant the seedlings on
• For indeterminate varieties/hybrids, the seedlings have to be staked using bamboo sticks of two-meter length or planted in a broad ridge of 90 cm width and 15 cm height. The seedlings are planted in the furrows at a spacing of 30 cm and the plant is allowed to spread on the broad

Spacing

The spacing recommended for the autumn-winter crop is 75 x 60 cm and for the spring-summer crop 75 x 45 cm. A plant population 35000/ha is considered to be optimum producing fruit yield of 40 tonnes /ha.

Irrigation

Tomatoes need very careful irrigation that is just sufficient water at the right time. It is necessary to maintain an even moisture supply. During the summer season, irrigation at every 5to 7 days interval is necessary, whereas in winter 10 to 15 days interval is sufficient. A long spell of drought followed by sudden heavy watering during the fruiting period may cause cracking of fruits.

Weed Control

There is a need for light hoeing during the first four weeks in the field which encourages the growth but also removes the weeds from the The surface soil is loosened by hand hoeing as soon as it is dry enough after every irrigation or shower. All weeds should also be removed in this process.

Mulching with straw, black polythene and many other materials has been found beneficial in moisture conservation, in controlling weeds and some diseases

Use of PGR (Plant Growth regulator)

• The use of PGR is tomato has been found beneficial for improvement of yield, quality, and fruit setting percentage increase.
• Use of 4CPA ( Cholorophenoxy acetic acid ) @ 20-50 ppm to enhance the fruit set at the high temperature.
• Use of PCPA @50-100ppm to enhance the fruit set under low and high temperature.
• Seedlings are soaked for 24 hours in NAA @ 0.1ppm showed higher fruit set and increased early and total yield

Harvesting and Yield:

Tomato harvesting is done depend upon the type of variety and crop management. However, fruits become ready for first harvesting in about 60-70 days after transplanting. The stage of harvesting depends upon the purpose to which the fruits are to be used.

The different stages of harvesting are as follows-

• Green Stage- Fruits for distant markets,
• Breaker stage - Dim pink color observed on ¼ part of the fruit, Fruits are harvested at this stage to ensure the best quality.
• Pink stage - Pink color observed on ¾ part of the fruit.
• Ripe stage- Fruits for local market.
• Over riped - Fruits are fully riped and soft having a dark red color. Such fruits are used for processing.

Tomato Yield

The yield per hectare varies significantly according to variety and season. On average, the yield varies from 20-25 t/ha. Hybrid varieties may yield up to 50-60 t/ha.

Storage and Marketing

Tomato fruits are mature green stage could be stored successfully at 12-130C in polythene bag of l00gauge thickness for 4-5 weeks. Usually, bamboo basket and wooden boxes of various sizes and shapes are used for packing of tomatoes wooden boxes are generally used for packing for distant markets.

The use of polythene for pre-packaging of tomatoes could reduce the physiological losses in weight and increase shelf life.

Authors:

Deepak Maurya¹, Bhagya Shree², Tirthartha Chattopadhyay², Shirin Akhtar^1, and Randhir Kumar¹

Department of Horticulture (Vegetable and Floriculture)¹,

Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics²

Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, Bhagalpur, 813210 Bihar, India

 Authors  E-mail- This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.