Abstract
Abstract Responses of three tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) hybrids viz. 'Luanova', 'Savarona' and 'Tessera' to various doses (0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 g L-1) of soil application of humic acid (HA) were evaluated in terms of plant growth, productivity and quality of fruits, under greenhouse conditions, during 2011-12 and 2012-13. In addition to improved quality characteristics, higher values for yield and yield components were recorded for tomato fruits harvested from plants of 'Tessera' cultivar compared to those harvested from other hybrids tested, regardless of growing seasons. Plants from 'Luanova' cultivar were, however, earlier in fruiting with higher number of fruits per plant. Soil application of HA presented positive effects on yield and physicochemical quality of tomato fruits irrespective of the dose of HA and the cultivar investigated, in both seasons. Soil application of HA at higher dose 1.5 g L-1 exhibited better results in all the three tomato cultivars tested, in terms of their vegetative and reproductive growth, and significantly improved the physicochemical quality of their fruits. Conclusively, the tomato hybrid 'Tessera' was found suitable for cultivation under greenhouse conditions while soil application of aqueous solution of HA @ 1.5 g L-1 substantially resulted in higher production of quality tomato fruits.
Highlights
Tomato (Lycopersicon esculantum Mill.) is the second largest fresh produce in the world next to potato
The average yield (34.9 t ha-1) of tomato crop in the kingdom is far below compared to those many European (Belgium 499.6, Netherlands 483.5, Ireland 470.0, United Kingdom 417.8, Demark 357.1, Norway 350.7 t ha-1), Asian (Malaysia 65.5, South Korea 64.2, Japan 61.8, China 51.5 t ha-1), North American (USA 83.8, Canada 62.3 t ha-1), Oceania (New Zealand 116.0, Australia 72.4 t ha-1) and Arab League (Morocco 92.3, Kuwait 90.5, Lebanon 72.7, Bahrain 63.5, Jordon 56.3, Oman 53.3, Syria 53.0 t ha-1) countries are producing at their farms/greenhouses (Feleafel and Mirdad, 2014; FAO, 2016)
Significant differences were observed among the three hybrid varieties of tomato studied, in terms of their vegetative growth traits
Summary
Tomato (Lycopersicon esculantum Mill.) is the second largest fresh produce in the world next to potato. Being a major component of humic substances, HA is a complex mixture of many different kinds of acids that contain carboxyl and phenolate groups It is produced through biodegradation of dead organic matter in many upland streams, dystrophic lakes and ocean water. Many novel tomato varieties and hybrid cultivars are presently being investigated for their performance under the agro-environmental conditions deemed to be marginal to their growth and productivity (Agyeman et al, 2014) under KSA conditions. Their cultural management practices need to be standardized prior to their cultivation on large commercial scales. Present studies were aimed at evaluating the responses of three newly introduced tomato hybrid cultivars to soil applications of various doses of HA under greenhouse conditions
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