Effect of the Interaction of Nutrient Sources on the Growth, Yield and Quality of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.)

Abstract

The present field investigation was conducted in the years 2021 and 2022 at Horticultural Farm, Faculty of Agriculture Science & Technology, Mansarovar Global University, Sehore (Madhya Pradesh). The experiment was carried out to find out the interaction effect of various sources of nutrients on the growth, yield, and quality of tomatoes. The study comprised a total of 16 different treatment combinations of inorganic plant nutrients; biofertilizers included a control. It was found that the application of treatment T8 (Azotobacter 1 kg/ha + 120kg N2 + 60kg P2O5) recorded significantly higher growth attributes (number of branches per plant), days to first flowering, and days to first picking crop duration than the control. It has been determined that the maximum yield of 409.82 q ha-1 was recorded in treatment T8, followed by treatment T12 (Azospirillum 1 kg/ha + 120 kg N2 + 60 kg P2O5) and T16 total yields of 394.74 q ha-1 and 361.91 ha-1. The maximum TSS of 5.45 °brix was recorded in treatment T12 (Azospirillum 1 kg/ha + 120 kg N2 + 60 kg P2O5), followed by treatment T8 (Azotobacter 1 kg/ha + 120 kg N2 + 60 kg P2O5) over the control. The ascorbic acid content of 33.56 mg per 100 ml of juice was recorded in treatment T7 (Azotobacter 1 kg/ha + 80 kg N2+ 40 kg P2O5), followed by treatment T11 (Azospirillum 1 kg/ha + 80 kg N2+ 40 kg P2O5) over treatment T1 (Control). The results obtained during the investigation with different combinations of nutrient sources of inorganic fertilizers and biofertilizers on the growth, yield, and quality of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) Hence, it is concluded that application of biofertilizers and inorganic fertilizers with the combination significantly effect on growth parameters, yield attributing characters and fruit quality characters also significantly affected were maximum in Azotobacter 1 kg/ha + 120 kg Nitrogen + 60 kg Phosphorus.