Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

EFFECT OF NUTRIENT RATIOS OF WATER SOLUBLE FERTILIZERS ON QUALITY OF TOMATO (SOLANUM LYCOPERSICUM L.) UNDER FERTIGATION

Minnu John, M. Elayarajan, R. Swarna Priya and P. Janaki

Abstract

A pot experiment was conducted during summer 2021 at the Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore to study the effect of nutrient ratios of water soluble fertilizers on the quality parameters of TNAU Tomato Hybrid CO 3 under fertigation. The experiment was laid out in Completely Randomized Design with nine treatments each replicated thrice. The results revealed that the different quality parameters viz., titratable acidity (1.16 % citric acid 100g-1), lycopene (4.88 mg 100g-1) and  carotene (0.88 mg 100g-1) contents recorded highest values under Fertigation with 1:1:1 NPK @ 100 % RDN + Ca + B while TSS (5.01ºBrix) and ascorbic acid (46.6 mg 100g-1) marked the highest under fertigation with 1:1:1 NPK @ 100% RDN + B. The lowest quality fruits were observed in the absolute control. This particular study revealed that the fertigated treatments enhanced the quality of fruits over the conventional methods of fertilization and the application of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium alone won’t result in better quality but, those together with calcium and boron through fertigation may result in the best quality parameters of tomato.