Vol. 11, Issue 2 (2022)

Author(s):
Ramesh G, Maheshwara Babu B, Ajithkumar K, Mallika K and Savitha AS

Abstract:
Protected cultivation of vegetables is the best means of increasing the productivity and quality of tomato. The yield of tomato under protected structures can be increased by manifolds when compared to open field cultivation. An experiment was conducted to investigate the performance of tomato under different protected structures in semi-arid region of Raichur district. There were four treatments in the experiment consisting of different protective structures such as polyhouse, shadenet, sides opened shadenet and open field condition (control) which were replicated five times. Protective structures had remarkable and significant influence on plant growth and yield parameters of tomato. The tomato grown under shadenet exhibited higher plant height (246.31 cm), number of branches (74.82), rind thickness (5.69 mm), diameter of fruit (51.16 mm), chlorophyll content (72.15 per cent), number of fruits per plant (56.31) and yield per square meter (7.63 kg). Added to this, the water use efficiency and fertilizer use efficiency was more in shadenet, when compared to other structures and open condition. On contrary Alternaria blight severity was maximum in poly house (29.2 per cent) whereas open field condition has recorded minimum severity (21.2 per cent). The result indicates that there is a bright scope for cultivation of tomato under shadenet.