Effect of Potassium Carbonate used to Improve Phytosanitary and Agronomic Parameters of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) Crops

Abstract

Aims: The present study aims to evaluate the effect of potassium carbonate (58 p.c) on agronomic and phytosanitary parameters in tomato crops. Place and Duration of Study: This study was carried out from May to September 2020 at N'gattakro, a village near the international airport in the city of Yamoussoukro, center region of Côte d’Ivoire. Methodology: Five doses of potassium carbonate (PC:T1= 2 Kg/ha; T2 = 3 Kg/ha; T3 = 4 Kg/ha; T4 = 5 Kg/ha; T5 = 6 Kg/ha), a reference control (TR1= IVORY (mancozeb 80%) and an untreated control were tested in a Fisher's complete block design with 4 replicates in a commercial garden plot.  Results: As results T4 and T5 potassium carbonate improved the tomato yield. These doses promoted the yield of 5.02±0.09 and 6.92±0.16 t/ha compared to the control (3.405±0.1 t/ha). Moreover, at these doses, there was a low manifestation of toxicity. In addition, 6kg/ha of PC showed a fusarium wilt infection rate of 1.38±0.71% compared to 3.62±0.90% for the control. Conclusion: Potassium carbonate (58%) at 6 kg/ha can be an alternative solution to chemical control of fungal diseases in tomato cropping.