Economic analysis of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) cultivar grown in different soilless substrates under protected conditions

Abstract

Protected cultivation has great potential in northern India, where the extreme temperature, unpredictable heavy rainfall and problematic soil conditions have affected the year around availability of tomato crop in the different agro climatic zones of the region. Therefore, this study was conducted under protected structure at Hi-Tech Vegetable Centre, Bir Charik, Moga, Punjab during two seasons in 2018 and 2019 with an objective to standardize the best economical growing media and tomato cultivars in Punjab. The experiment was conducted with 6 promising tomato cultivars (viz., Heemshikhar, 2853, NS-4266, Punjab Gaurav, Punjab Sartaj, Punjab Swarna) under poly-house structure. Six different media substrate treatments [Soil as control, Cocopeat only, Cocopeat+ Vermicompost in ratio {(2:1, v/v) & (3:1, v/v)}, Cocopeat + Vermiculite + Perlite in ratio (3:1:1, v/v) and (6:1:1, v/v)] were used. The soil is the most economical growing media for growing all the cultivars, but in the case of problematic soils (saline soils/soil borne insect-pest problems), the soilless substrate can be a better option for commercial cultivation of tomato. The maximum B:C ratio (0.80) was recorded in cultivar (P3) which was statistically significant than check cultivar (P1). The maximum B:C ratio (0.93) was recorded under Soil only (M1), followed by (0.74) under media combination (M3) cocopeat + vermicompost (2:1, v/v) which was statistically significant than all other treatments. The economic yield of NS-4266 was (608 q/acre) higher in the soilless growing media (M3) with the combination of Cocopeat + Vermicompost (2:1, v/v) for tomato cultivation in Punjab, whereas the soilless growing media Cocopeat + Vermiculite + Perlite in the ratio (6:1:1, v/v) can be exploited for further research experiments.