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African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development
Rural Outreach Program
ISSN: 1684-5358 EISSN: 1684-5358
Vol. 10, No. 2, 2010, pp. 2139-2151
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Bioline Code: nd10017
Full paper language: English
Document type: Research Article
Document available free of charge
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African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development, Vol. 10, No. 2, 2010, pp. 2139-2151
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Fruit Yield and Quality of Drip-Irrigated Tomato Under Deficit Irrigation
Birhanu, K. & Tilahun, K.
Abstract
The competition for limited amount of world fresh water is increasing at a fast rate.
The agricultural sector is the major water user and also the most inefficient. As a
result, the economic return from a unit of water is the lowest for agricultural sector.
Therefore, in the wake of dwindling water availability, it is becoming imperative to
look for ways of maximizing yield and quality of produce per unit of water. This is
especially important in countries like Ethiopia, where there is severe water shortage in
the arid and semi-arid areas. In this study, a field experiment was conducted at
Melkassa Agricultural Research Center, Ethiopia to study the effects of moisture
stress on the yield and quality of two tomato cultivars; Melka Shola and Melkassa
Marglobe used as salad. The two tomato cultivars were exposed to four irrigation
water deficit levels expressed as percentages of potential evapotranspiration (ETc) as:
0%ETc, 25%ETc, 50%ETc, and 75%ETc deficit. The total plant biomass decreased
with stress level while the fruit dry matter increased. As a result, the harvest index
(fruit dry matter weight/plant dry matter weight) was increased with stress level. At a
given stress level, the harvest index of Melka Shola was higher than that of Melkassa
Marglobe. Both the number and size of tomato fruits were found to decrease with
moisture stress. The incidence of sun-scald and blossom end rot was higher in the
more stressed plants (75%ETc) deficit. The total soluble solid (TSS) content was
significantly affected by irrigation treatments. The total soluble content was increased
with stress level while the fruit water content was decreased. The fruit total soluble
content (TSS) of the stressed plants was also significantly different between the
tomato cultivars. Melkassa Marglobe cultivar had higher total soluble solute content
than Melka Shola cultivar. The higher total soluble solute content of Melkassa
Marglobe might be the reason why this cultivar is preferred by consumers for use as a
salad. It has been observed also that small animals and birds fed more on this cultivar
than on the Melka Shola cultivar.
Keywords
Deficit irrigation, quality, tomato, yield
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