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Vegetables

Vegetables

Introduction
Nutritional Profile
Area and Productivity
Climatic Requirements
Suitable Soil Type
Recommended Varieties
Agronomic Practices
Plant Protection
Harvest And Post Management

Introduction

TOMATO (Solanum lycopersicum)

Tomato is a warm season crop. The best fruit colour and quality is obtained at a temperature range of 21-24°C. Temperatures above 32oC adversely affects the fruit set and development. The plants cannot withstand frost and high humidity.

Tomato

Nutritional Profile

Tomatoes are not only one of the most popular and versatile foods worldwide, but also one of the healthiest. They are rich in nutrients and antioxidants that offer numerous health benefits.

Nutrient Content / 100g of Red Tomato Nutrient Content / 100g of Red Tomato
Energy 18 Kcal Vitamin K 7.9 µg
Carbohydrate 3.9 g Magnesium 11 mg
- Sugar 2.6 g Manganese 0.114 mg
Dietary Fiber 1.2 g Iron 0.3 mg
Fat 0.2 g Copper 0.19 mg
Protein 0.9 g Sulfur 24 mg
Water 94.5 g Chlorine 38 mg
Vitamin A 833 IU Sodium 5 mg
Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) 0.037 mg Calcium 20 mg
Vitamin B3 (Niacin) 0.594 mg Phosphorus 24 mg
Vitamin B6 0.08 mg Potassium 237 mg
Vitamin C 14 mg Lycopene 2537 µg
Vitamin E 0.54 mg Oxalic acid 2 mg

Area and Productivity

In India, area of tomato is 840000 hectares and production is 20331000 Tonnes.

Climatic Requirements

Tomato is a warm season crop. The best fruit colour and quality is obtained at a temperature range of 21-24°C. Temperatures above 32°C adversely affects the fruit set and development. The plants cannot withstand frost and high humidity. It requires a low to medium rainfall. Bright sunshine at the time of fruit set helps to develop dark red coloured fruits. Temperature below 10°C adversely affects plant tissues thereby slowing down physiological activities.

Suitable Soil Type

Well drained sandy loam rich in organic matter with pH 5.0-7.0

Recommended Varieties

Punjab Chhuhara
  • Determinate, dwarf with good foliage cover
  • Prolific bearer, high yielder
  • Fruit medium, pear-shaped, pericarp thick
  • Maturity 120 days
  • Suitable for distant transport and processing
S-12
  • Plant dwarf, bushy, early bearing
  • Fruit medium-sized, round, juicy, highly acidic
  • Average yield 175-280 q/ha
  • Suitable for fresh marketing (table purpose)
Punjab Kesri
  • Determinate, dwarf, bushy
  • Fruit small, pear-shaped, less pulpy
  • Early maturity
  • Yield about 268 q/ha
  • Susceptible to root-knot nematode
  • Less suitable for processing
Pusa Early Dwarf
  • Determinate, typical dwarf with compact fruiting
  • Fruit slightly flattish in shape, medium-large, uniformly red ribbed
  • Maturity in 55-60 days after transplanting
  • Yield 200-500 q/ha
Sioux
  • Indeterminate, spreading
  • Fruit round, smooth, medium to large, less seeded, sub-acid in taste
  • Medium late maturity (70-80 days)
  • Average yield about 250 q/ha
  • Suitable for short distance markets and hilly regions
Pusa Ruby
  • Indeterminate, spreading, less branched and hardy
  • Fruit flattish round, small to medium, slightly acidic
  • Early maturity (60-65 days)
  • Yield about 330 q/ha
  • Tolerant to excess rain
Arka Abha (BWR-1)
  • Semi determinate, fruits oblate, light green shouldered
  • Average fruit weight 75 g
  • Duration 135 days, yield 250 q/ha
  • Resistant to bacterial wilt
Arka Alok (BWR-5)
  • Determinate, fruits square round, thick-fleshed with light green shouldered
  • Average fruit weight 100 g
  • Duration 125 days, yield 350 q/ha
  • Resistant to bacterial wilt
BT-1
  • High yielder, tolerant to bacterial wilt

Agronomic Practices

Land Preparation

The land should be prepared to a fine tilth and FYM to be applied at least 15 days ahead of transplanting. Liming should be done earlier to transplanting to raise the soil pH to an optimum level. It is advisable to apply lime @ 10 q/ha every three years depending upon soil testing.

Seed Rate
  • Determinate & Semi-determinate varieties: 250 g/ha (33.3 g/bigha)
  • Indeterminate varieties: 300 g/ha (40 g/bigha)
Time of Sowing

October – November

Spacing
  • (Row to row x plant to plant) 60 cm x 45 cm (for both the determinate and semi-determinate variety)
  • 75 cm x 30 cm (for indeterminate variety)
Time of Planting for Hill Zone

To escape the leaf curl virus, planting should be done in October.

Irrigation and Water Management

The first irrigation is to be given immediately after transplanting and subsequent irrigations at 10-15 days’ interval depending on soil condition.

Nutrient Management
  • FYM @ 10 t/ha, N 75 kg/ha, P205 60 kg/ha, and K20 60 kg/ha (1.3 t FYM, 22.0 kg Urea, 50.4 kg SSP, and 13.6 kg MOP/bigha).
  • Half of N and full doses of FYM, P205, and K20 should be applied as basal, and the remaining half of N to be top-dressed in one or two splits.
  • Foliar application of Nitrogen is very effective. In that case, 40 kg/ha N should be applied as basal and 20 kg/ha N as foliar spray.

The schedule for foliar spray to be followed is:

  1. Spray on the 30th day after transplanting by dissolving 9.71 kg urea in 1000 litres of water for one hectare of land.
  2. Spray on the 40th day after transplanting by dissolving 14.1 kg urea in 1500 litres of water for one hectare of land.
  3. Spray on the 50th day after transplanting by dissolving 19.3 kg urea in 2000 litres of water for one hectare of land.
Weed Management

Pre-emergence application of Metolachlor @1 kg ai/ha followed by application of Grubber at 40 DAP is recommended. Alternatively, hoeing is to be done at 20 and 40 DAP.

Growth Regulator

Spray 20 ppm of Gibberellic acid at 30 days after planting.

Intercropping

Knolkhol can be successfully grown with tomato as intercrop (1 row of tomato: 2 rows of Knolkhol).

Plant Protection

Tomato Fruit Borers

Causal Organism: Helicoverpa armigera

Symptoms:

  • The larvae initially feed on tender foliage and bore into the fruits causing heavy damage.
  • The insect bores circular holes on the fruits and feeds away the inner portion by putting their head inside.
Tomato
Management:
  • Collection and destruction of infected fruits and egg masses.
  • Grow American tall marigold with tomato as a trap crop.
  • Setup pheromone traps (Helilure) and spray Bacillus thuringiensis or other recommended insecticides.

White Fly

Scientific Name: Bemesia tabaci

Symptoms:

  • Nymphs suck sap, leading to chlorotic spots, yellowing, and curling of leaves.
  • Vector of tomato leaf curl disease.
Tomato
Management:
  • Uproot and destroy diseased plants.
  • Remove alternate weed hosts.
  • Install yellow sticky traps and apply recommended insecticides.

Serpentine Leaf Miner

Causal Organism: Liriomyza trifolii

Symptoms:

  • Immature insects make silvery serpentine mines while feeding on the leaves reducing the photosynthetic activity of the plant.
  • Infestation ultimately leads to drying and dropping of leaves.
Tomato
Management:
  • Collection and destruction of affected leaves and seed-based spraying of neem-based formulations.

Important Diseases and Their Management

Damping Off
Causal Organism: Pythium aphanidermatum

Symptoms:

  • Pre-emergence – The seedlings are killed just before they reach the soil surface.
  • Post-emergence – The infected tissues become soft and water-soaked.
Tomato
Management:
  • Use raised seed bed. Provide light but frequent irrigation for better drainage
  • Seed treatment with Trichoderma harzianum based formulations like Org-Trichojal @ 5ml/L + CMC @ 0.02 % for 60 minutes followed by shade drying for 2-3 hours or use Biofor-Pf-2 (Pseudomonas fluorescences and Trichoderma harzianum) @ 100 g/kg of seed.
  • Seedling treatment with Org-Trichojal @ 5ml/L or Biofor-Pf-2 @ 1 kg for 1000 seedlings.
  • Drench with collar region with 3-4 litre/sq.m of suspension of Org- Trichojal @ 5ml/L with Bordeaux mixture 1% and seed treatment with Carboxin (3 g/kg of seed) is the only preventive measure to control the pre-emergence damping off.

Early Blight

Causal Organism: Alternaria solani
Symptoms:
  • Small, isolated, scattered pale brown spots on the leaf
  • Fully developed spots are irregular, brown to dark brown in color and with concentric rings inside the spot
  • Zonate lesions may also develop on stems and petioles, which break at the point of infection
Tomato
Management:
  • Use of disease-free seed. Removal and burning of diseased crop debris.
  • Organic sulphur fungicide (Chlorothalonil 75% WP @ 2g/liter of water) spray at weekly intervals
  • Spray with copper fungicide @ 0.2 % on appearance of the disease

Late Blight

Causal Organism: Phytophthora infestans
Symptoms:
  • Tomato plants are also susceptible to late blight and the foliar symptoms are similar to those on potato
  • The pathogen may also spread in stems
Tomato
Management:
  • Select a tomato variety that reaches maturity quickly.
  • Harvest early i.e. tomatoes are nearly full size (yet green). Stake up tomato plants, use disease-free tomato transplants.
  • Destroy volunteer tomato plants.
  • Prophylactic spray of Chlorothalonil 75% WP @ 2 g/l followed by Dimenthomorph + Chlorothalonil 75% WP @ 2 g/l at the onset of disease.
  • One more spray of Chlorothalonil 75% WP @ 2 g/l seven days after application of systemic fungicides. Against late blight Chlorothalonil 75% WP @ 2 g/l should be used at the following rates:
    • Early stage (1st month) 600 L of water/ha (80 L/bigha)
    • Mid stage (2nd month) 800 L of water/ha (06.7 L/bigha)
    • Late stage (3rd month) 1000 L of water/ha (133.3 L/bigha)
  • Alternatively, Dithane Z-78 @ 0.25 % (25 g in 10 L of water) can be used. If the disease appears, spraying should be done at an interval of 7 to 10 days depending on the weather condition.While spraying, care should be taken to cover the lower sides of the leaves and 1 % Bordeaux mixture (10 g CuSO4 + 10 g lime + 1 L water) is also effective in controlling blight in tomato.

Bacterial Wilt

Causal Organism:Ralstonia solanacearum
Symptoms:
  • Mature, fruit-bearing plants are affected in mid-summer
  • The first symptom is wilting of a few leaves, which often goes unnoticed
  • Infected vascular bundles may become visible as long, narrow, dark brown streaks
  • Milky white bacterial ooze coming out, which is the diagnostic symptom for bacterial wilt when an infected stem is cut and dipped in water
Tomato
Management:
  • Avoid damage to seedlings while transplanting.
  • Restrict irrigation water flowing from affected fields to healthy fields.
  • Grow resistant varieties such as Arka Abha (BWR-1), Arka Alok (BWR-5).
  • Grow tolerant variety – BT-1.
  • Drench soil with 200 ppm Streptomycin.Apply oil cake and soil drenching can be done with Asafoetida 1 g + turmeric powder 5 g + 10 L water to drench the soil 3 times i.e. at 15, 30, and 45 days after transplanting, Seed treatment with Biofor-Pf-2 @ 100 g/kg of seed and seedling treatment with Biofor-Pf-2 @ 1 kg Biofor for 1000 seedlings.

Fungal Wilt

Causal Organism: Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. Lycopersici
Symptoms:
  • Clearing of the veinlets and chlorosis of the leaves
  • In young plants, the symptom consists of clearing of veinlets and dropping of petioles
  • In the field, yellowing of the lower leaves first and affected leaflets wilt and die
  • At a later stage, browning of the vascular system occurs
Tomato
Management:
  • Destruction of infected crop debris.
  • Summer ploughing, crop rotation with non-host crops.
  • Avoid injuring roots. Seed treatment with Trichoderma harzianum based formulation like Org-Trichojal @ 5 ml/L + CMC @ 0.02 % for 60 minutes followed by shade drying for 2-3 hours.
  • Soil drenching with Chlorothalonil 75% WP @ 2 g/L

Tomato Leaf Curl Virus

Causal Organism: Bemisia tabaci
Symptoms:
  • Leaflets roll upward and inward
  • Leaves bent downward, thicker, and leathery
  • Fruits are small and dry
  • Upward leaf cupping
  • Uprooting and burning
Tomato
Management:
  • Use of virus-free transplants.
  • Sanitation and use of systemic insecticide such as Emmamectin benzoate 5% SG @ 220g/ha as spray and soil application are useful in vector control and reducing the disease.
Tomato Mosaic (Tobacco mosaic virus, Cucumber mosaic virus)
Symptoms:
  • Mottling of the leaves
  • On leaves, light green to pale yellow islands of irregular patches appear
  • The green parts continue growing while yellowish parts are slow in growth
  • Normal green patches tend to be sunken or cup-like and give the leaf a roughened appearance
Tomato
Management:
  • Use of virus-free seedlings and hot water treatment of seed (50 degrees Celsius for 25 min).
  • Seed treatment with 20% Tri-sodium orthophosphate solution is effective.
Blossom End Rot
Symptoms:
  • Blossom end rot begins with light tan, water-soaked lesions which then enlarge, turn black and leathery and often become overrun with secondary mold
  • The disease generally occurs at the blossom end of the fruit and fruit affected by blossom-end rot ripens more rapidly than normal
  • A localized calcium deficiency at the distal end of the fruits results in blossom-end rot
  • Planting can alleviate blossom-end rot and during the growing season, foliar sprays of anhydrous calcium chloride may be helpful
Tomato
Management:
  • Liquid calcium 5% (1-2 Tbsp/gallon of water) as foliar application can be used
  • Avoid using high nitrogenous fertilizers which can accelerate vegetative growth thereby reducing the uptake of calcium by plants

Harvest And Post Management

Post-Harvest Handling:
  • Cool the harvested tomatoes by keeping them in the shade or passing them through cold water
  • Wash tomatoes before sorting and grading to ensure they are clean and safe
  • Grade and sort the harvested tomatoes according to size, shape, color, and volume
  • Bags, crates, hampers, baskets, and cartons are convenient containers for handling, transporting, and marketing fresh produce
Benefit-Cost Ratio:

6:41

Helpline and Support

0376 -2340001

Assam Agricultural University

Jorhat, PIN - 785013 Assam

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