M.A. SALAM
Senior Scientific Officer
HRC, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Gazipur,
M.A. SIDDIQUE
Professor
Department of Horticulture, Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU), Mymensingh,
M.A. RAHIM
Professor
Department of Horticulture, Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU), Mymensingh
M. A. RAHMAN
Professor
Department of Horticulture, Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU), Mymensingh
M.G. SAHA
Principal Scientific Officer
HRC, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI,) Gazipur, Bangladesh.
Quality of tomato, Boron and zinc, NPK fertilizer.
Vegetable research farm of the Horticulture Research Centre, BARI
Quality and Nutrition
The experiment was carried out at the vegetable research farm of the Horticulture Research Centre, BARI during the period from October 2006 to March 2007. The soil of the experimental plot falls under Madhupur tract (AEZ-28) characterized by high clay and low pH (6.4). The soil contained 1.64% organic matter, total nitrogen 0.087%, available phosphorus 29 µg/ml, 0.11 meq/100g of soil exchangeable potassium, 0.22 µg/ml boron and 1.8 µg/ml zinc. The study consisted of four levels of boron and zinc viz., i) B0Zn0= 0 kg B + 0 kg Zn/ha, ii) B1.5Zn2.0= 1.5 kg B + 2.0 kg Zn/ha, iii) B2.0Zn4.0 = 2.0 kg B + 4.0 kg Zn/ha, iv) B2.5Zn6.0 = 2.5 kg B + 6.0 kg Zn/ha and three levels of NPK fertilizers viz., i) 50% (1/2) of the recommended NPK fertilizer dose, ii) Recommended NPK fertilizer dose (RD), and iii) 150% (1.5 times) of the recommended NPK fertilizer dose. The recommended doses of NPK fertilizers for tomato are 550 kg urea, 450 kg TSP, 250 kg MoP/ha (BARI, 2004). Thus, there were 12 treatment combinations (4×3) in the experiment. In addition to the levels of boron and zinc and NPK under investigation, 10 t cow dung, and 120 kg gypsum per hectare were applied. The sources of boron and zinc were boric acid and zinc oxide, respectively. The experiment was laid out in a RCB design with three replications. The unit plot was 2.4 m × 2.4 m. Two adjacent unit plots were separated by 70 cm and 01m space was given between the blocks. Half of the quantity of cow dung, the entire quantity of TSP, gypsum and 1/3 MoP were applied during final land preparation. The remaining cow dung, entire boron, and zinc were applied during pit preparation. The entire urea and the rest of MoP were applied in three equal installments at 15, 30, and 50 days after transplanting. BARI Tomato-9 was used in this experiment. Healthy and uniform sized 30 days old seedlings were transplanted at 60cm × 40cm spacing on 15 November 2006. Inter cultural operations were done as and when needed. Data were collected on number of filled seeds per fruit, pulp weight (expressed in percent on weight basis), dry matter content, total soluble solid (TSS), acidity (Rangana, 1994), ascorbic acid, lycopene content, chlorophyll-a and chlorophyll-b according to Nagata et al. (1992), boron content (Hunter, 1980), zinc content (Rahayu et al., 2001), percent weight loss, percent marketable fruit and shelf life (Mondal, 2000). From the middle rows of each plot, middle six plants were selected to record data. Recorded data were analyzed statistically and means were compared by the Least Significant Difference (LSD) test.
Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 35(3) : 475-488, September 2010 ISSN 0258-7122
Journal