Impact of Actiwave Biostimulant on Physiological Traits, Nutrient Content and Yield of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.)

Abstract

Nowadays, seaweeds are more and more being utilized as plant biostimulants for the improvement of plant performance. Actiwave is a biostimulant product extracted from seaweed Ascophyllum nodosum and three main components of Actiwave are betaines, alginic acid and caidrine. Hence, the objective of the present study is to evaluate the impact of Actiwave on the growth, physiology, nutrient uptake and yield of tomato under open field conditions. The field experiments were carried out at Eastern Block Farm, Tamil Nadu Agricultural university, Coimbatore during December 2021 – April 2022 (Season I) and June 2022 – October 2022 (Season II). The Actiwave biostimulant applied in three doses at the rate of 5.0 L ha−1 (Act 1), 10.0 L ha−1(Act 2), 20.0 L ha−1(Act 3) into the soil at 45 and 60 days after transplanting. The Actiwave treatments showed a positive influence on plant performance, however, the most significant results were observed in Actiwave 10.0 L ha−1(Act 2), which enhanced the SPAD value, photosynthetic rate, total dry matter production, leaf and stem nutrient content (N, P, K), average fruit weight, fruit yield per plant and yield per hectare of tomato. Hence, the use of Actiwave on tomato could be an effective way to boost production sustainably.