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Effect of Different Staking Methods and Stem Pruning on Yield and Quality of Summer Tomato

M. S. Alam
Senior Scientific Officer
Horticulture Research Center, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Gazipur

N. Islam
Professor
Horticulture department, Sher-e- Bangla Agriculture University, Dhaka

S. Ahmad
Director
Horticulture Research Center, BARI, Gazipur

M. I. Hossen Horticulture department, Sher-e- Bangla Agriculture University, Dhaka
Professor

M. R. Islam
Professor
Plant pathology department, Sher-e-Bangla Agriculture University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

The study was carried out during summer of 2012 with BARI hybrid tomato 4, planted in the Olericulture farm of Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute, Joydebpur, Gazipur, Bangladesh to find out the response of plants to some staking and pruning treatments on yield, fruit quality and cost of production. A two factor experiment consisting of three staking methods and four level of pruning, laid out in complete block design with three repetitions. Plants were staked on inverted „V- shaped staking, high platform and string. The plants were pruned to two stem, three stem, four stem and no pruning as control. Results showed that significantly the highest total number of fruits per plant (37.1), marketable fruits per plant (33.7), yield per plant (1.68 kg) and total yield (44.6 t/ha) were produced by the plants having the treatment string staking with four stem. The highest fruit set (43.50%) was found in the plants staking with string having three stems. Plants grown on string staking allowing two stem gave the maximum length (4.71 cm), diameter (4.83 cm) and weight (53.4g) of single fruit as well as maximum fruit firmness (3.43 kg-f cm^-2). From the economic point of view, it was apparent that summer tomato produced by string staking with four stem pruning exhibited better performance compared to other treatment combinations in relation to net return and BCR (2.10).

Keywords: Different staking, Stem pruning, Yield, Quality, Summer Tomato

Location: Olericulture farm of Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute located at Joydebpur, Gazipur

Start Date: 00-00-2012

End Date:

Program Area: Crop-Soil-Water Management

Commodity: Tomato

Objectives:

The study was undertaken to assess the influence of various staking methods and level of pruning on the yield and fruit quality of tomato.

Methodology:

The experiment was carried out in summer of 2012 on BARI hybrid tomato 4, planted in the Olericulture farm of Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute located at Joydebpur, Gazipur, Bangladesh to study the response of plants to staking and pruning on yield and fruit quality. The treatments consisted of a factorial combination of three staking methods and four levels of pruning, laid out in complete block design with three replications. Plants were staked on inverted „V? shaped staking (S₁), high platform (S₂) and string (S₃), hanging from the top of the poly tunnel. Plants were pruned to two stem (B₂), three stem (B₃) and four stem (B₄) with no pruning (B₁) as control. Seeds were sown on May 1, 2012, in seed bed having mixture of soil and cowdung (1:1 ratio). After germination, at two true leaves stage the seedlings were shifted to second seed bed at a spacing of 5x5 cm to ensure better seedling growth. Twenty nine days old seedlings were transplanted in the main field under poly tunnel on May 29, 2012. Poly tunnels and beds were prepared prior to transplanting. Every single tunnel was 20 m long and 2.3 m wide with a height of 1.40 m along the sides and 2.0 m along the middle covering 0.10 mm thick transparent polyethylene sheet. Each tunnel had two beds of 1 m width separated by a 30 cm drain. Plants were spaced at 60x40 cm distance from each other thus a single tunnel accommodated 200 plants. Plants were staked 10-15 days after transplanting when plants reach a height of 25-30 cm. Bamboo sticks (1.5 m long and 2.5 cm diameter) were used for making inverted “V” shaped staking. High platform were made by bamboo over the bed. Platform was 40 cm of height, 1m width and as long as necessary. Plants were allowed to grow freely over the platform. Jute rope (5 mm thickness) was used as string staking hanging one end from the top of the tunnel and the other end was tied with the stem of the plant. Plants were twisted with the string gradually with the increasing of plant height. Different string was used for every single branch. Tomato plants were pruned to retain two stems, three stems and four stems. Pruning was done at weekly interval from 20 to 30 days after transplanting. While pruning, weak branches were removed retaining the strong branches. All the shoots appearing at the base of the plants were removed as they are not productive. Pruning was done by hand or using sharp knife in the morning. Data were recorded on the plant height at last harvest, days to flowering, days to first harvest, days to last harvest, fruit set, number of marketable fruits per plant, number of non marketable fruits per plant, fruit size (length and diameter), fruit firmness, total soluble solid, individual fruit weight and fruit yield. The digital fruit firmness tester “PENFEEL” (Model- DFT 14, Agro-Technologie, France) with flat head stainless-steel cylindrical probe of diameter 2 mm was used for the measurement of tomato fruit firmness. Collected data were analyzed statistically by using MSTAT-C to find out the variation among different treatments. Treatment means were separated using Least Significant Difference (LSD) test at 5 % level of significance (Gomez and Gomez, 1984).

Source of Information: Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 41(3): 419-432, September 2016 ISSN 0258-7122 (Print), 2408-8293 (Online)

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

The study demonstrated that yield, quality and profitability of tomato can be effectively manipulated by staking methods and stem pruning. Plants managed by string staking having four stem produced significantly the highest number of fruits per plant and yielded the highest. From the economic point of view, the above treatment combination exhibited better economic performance compared to farmers' practices. The results need to be confirmed with other cultivars.

Knowledge Management: Journal