Yield and water use of cherry tomato under water availability and potassium doses

Adriano B Pacheco,Tonny J A Da Silva,Marcio Koetz,Edna M Bonfim-Silva,Hamilton A W Castro

doi:10.1590/1807-1929/agriambi.v22n5p326-331

Adriano B Pacheco, Tonny J A Da Silva + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/1807-1929/agriambi.v22n5p326-331

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Abstract

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to evaluate the yield and water use of cherry tomatoes under soil water availability and potassium (K) doses in a greenhouse. The experiment was conducted in randomized blocks in a 52 fractional factorial design, corresponding to five levels of water availability and five K doses, with 13 combinations (4-0; 4-250; 4-500; 14-125; 14-375; 24-0; 24-250; 24-500; 34-125; 34-375; 44-0; 44-250; 44-500) (kPa-mg dm-3) and four replicates. A drip irrigation system with semi-automated irrigation control was used. The analyzed variables were shoot dry matter, number of fruits, yield, water consumption and water use efficiency. Highest cherry tomato yield occurs at soil water tension of 24 kPa and K dose of 290 mg dm-3. Soil water tension of 44 kPa and K dose of 290 mg dm-3 allow for higher water use efficiency in cherry tomato. Cherry tomato yield and water use are influenced by soil water availability and K doses in greenhouse.

Highlights

Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) is one of the main vegetables produced in Brazil, especially the cultivars of the Cherry group, for their characteristic taste, notable aspects in food products and high added value
This study aimed to evaluate the production and water use of cherry tomato in protected environment under water availability levels and K doses
The significant response surface shows highest shoot dry matter (164 g plant-1) at water availability level of 4 kPa combined with K dose of 500 mg dm-3, promoting increment of 62% in comparison to the combination of 44 kPa and absence of K fertilization (Figure 2A)

Summary

Introduction

Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) is one of the main vegetables produced in Brazil, especially the cultivars of the Cherry group, for their characteristic taste, notable aspects in food products and high added value. Cherry tomato plants have good adaptation to various production systems, with lower use of fertilizers and pesticides (Lúcio et al, 2016). Tomato production systems in protected environment are well consolidated due to the possibilities of microclimatic control. Despite the high initial investment, the protected environment modifies the interactions between the development and production of plants and water use, due to the reduction in global solar radiation incidence and wind, which reduces the evapotranspiration (Reis et al, 2009). Considering the greater control over the water applied through irrigation, plants in protected environment exhibit, besides higher yield and fruit quality, high water use efficiency (Viol et al, 2017). For the planning of production systems in protected environments no recommendations are found in fertilization bulletins considering their particularities. Potassium (K) stands out as the cation at highest concentration in plants, with relevant physiological and metabolic functions such as enzymatic activation, translocation of assimilates and action in osmotic regulation, contributing to improvements in water use (Taiz & Zeiger, 2013)

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