Effects of Indigenous Mulches on Growth and Yield of Tomato

J Agric Rural Dev 6(1&2), 1-6, June 2008 Available online at http://www.banglajol.info/index.php/jard ISSN 1810-1860 JARD Journal of Agriculture & Rural Development Effects of Indigenous Mulches on Growth and Yield of Tomato M. A. KAYUM1*, M. ASADUZZAMAN2 & M. Z. HAQUE1 1 Department of Agricultural Botany, Patuakhali Science and Technology University, Dumki, Patuakhali, Bangladesh 2 Former M.S. Student, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh-2202, Bangladesh ABSTRACT Three popular tomato varieties namely, Ratan, BARI tomato-3 and BARI tomato-6 were experimentally evaluated to identify the potential mulch on growth and yield, where the experiment consisted of four mulching treatments viz. water hyacinth, straw, am-ada leaf and banana leaf with a control (no mulch). The experiment was conducted under rainfed condition. In the experiment, mulching showed significant effect on growth, yield components and thus on the yield of tomato. Yield contributing characters were significantly higher when water hyacinth mulch was used. The variety Ratan produced the highest (53.74 t/ha) fruit yield, while BARI tomato-3 showed the lowest (48.89 t/ha) fruit yield. The combination of mulching and variety exhibited significant variation in some yield components and yield. The combination of water hyacinth and Ratan produced the maximum yield (62.16 t/ha) and thus the experiment revealed that water hyacinth and straw mulches have potentiality to increase the yield of tomato. Key words: Indigenous mulch, growth, yield, tomato. INTRODUCTION Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) belongs to the family solanaceae. In Bangladesh, tomato is grown during the months from September to April, when rainfall is scarce, and soil moisture (250 mm) is exhausted by evapotranspiration. Water is the single factor, which directly influence the yield of tomato. Successful tomato cultivation largely depends on the judicious application of manures and fertilizers, efficient use of available soil moisture, spacing, time of planting, weed control etc. Out of these factors, efficient use of soil moisture is very important. Rainfall is scanty during September to April in Bangladesh when growers have to depend either on natural precipitation or irrigation for tomato cultivation. Moreover, many of the farmers can not afford the expenses of irrigation. Under this situation indigenous mulching could be a good substitute for irrigation. Indigenous mulches like straw, rice husk, water hyacinth, crop residues are generally practiced in the production of horticultural crops. Different types of mulch play an important role in conserving soil moisture (Suh and Kim, 1991). Mulch regulates soil temperature, creates suitable condition for germination, improves soil moisture, suppresses weed growth, saves labour cost (Patil and Basad, 1972) and improves soil physical conditions by enhancing biological activity of soil fauna and thus increases soil fertility (Lal, 1989) which ultimately increases the yield of tomato. In addition, mulching has the unique character of reducing the maximum soil temperature and increasing the minimum temperature (Singh et al., 1987). * Corresponding author: Lecturer, Department of Agricultural Botany, PSTU, Dumki, Patuakhali, E-mail: kayum_pabna @ yahoo.com © 2008 School of Agriculture and Rural Development, Bangladesh Open University, All rights reserved. M. A. Kayum et al. MATERIALS AND METHODS An experiment was conducted at the field laboratory of the Department of Crop Botany, BAU, Mymensingh, during October 2002 to April 2003. The land was ploughed with power tiller. During land preparation, weeds and other stubbles of previous crop were collected and removed from the land. The climate of the area was subtropical, characterized by heavy rainfall, high humidity and high temperature during the months from April to September. Scanty rainfall associated with moderately low temperature, low humidity and short day during the rest period of the year. The experiment consisted of four types of mulches such as water hyacinth (M1), straw (M2), am-ada leaf (M3) and Banana leaf (M4) with a control (Mo) where no mulch was used. Three tomato varieties namely BARI tomato-3 (V1), Ratan (V2) and BARI tomato-6 (V3) were experimentally evaluated. The experiment was conducted in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. The unit plot size was 1mx1m. Tomato seedlings were raised in a seedbed. The size of the seedbed was 3mx1m. The seeds (3g) of each variety were sown in the seedbed on 30th October, 2002. After sowing, the seeds were covered with light soil. Complete germination of the seeds took place within 3 to 5 days of sowing the healthy and uniform of 25 days old from all varieties were transplanted separately. The seedbeds were watered before uprooting the seedlings in order to minimize the damage of the roots. The seedlings were watered after transplanting. Shading was provided using banana leaf sheath for three days to protect the seedlings from direct sunlight. The land was fertilized with 1kg cow dung, 55g urea, 45g TSP and 25g MP per plot. After transplanting four types of mulches, viz. water hyacinth (M1), straw (M2), am-ada leaf (M3) and banana leaf (M4) were placed on the respective plots according to the layout of the experiment. The fresh water hyacinth, banana leaf and am-ada leaf were dried in the sun for 7 days before placing on the plot. No irrigation was given to the experimental plots. The crop was grown under rainfed condition. After transplanting, different intercultural operations were accomplished for better growth and development of the plants. Plant height (cm), number of leaves per plant, leaf area per plant (cm2), dry weight of leaves, stem, roots and fruits per plant (g), total dry matter (g), number of flower clusters per plant, number of fruits per cluster, number of fruits per plant, weight of individual fruit (g), weight of fruits per plant (kg), weight of fruits per plot (kg) and fruit yield (t/ha) were recorded up to maturity and tomato yield was assessed at the final harvest. Data were analyzed with MSTAT-C following the ANOVA and mean differences were adjudged by least significant difference (LSD) (Gomez and Gomez, 1984). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Different indigenous mulches exhibited highly significant effect on plant height (cm), number of 2 leaves per plant, leaf area per plant (cm ), dry weight of leaves, stem and roots and fruits per plant, at final harvest of tomato (Table 1). The tallest plant (123.20 cm), highest number of leaves (65.73), 2 greater leaf area (1007.00 cm ) and maximum dry weight of leaves, stem, roots and fruits per plant were obtained with the plants grown under water hyacinth mulch followed by other mulches such as straw, am-ada leaves and banana leaf while the control treatment gave the lowest values. Similar opinion was also put for worded by Buitellar (1989). Total dry matter per plant was measured at final (...truncated)