Abstract:
The present pot experiment was conducted at the Horticulture Farm of Sher-eBangla
Agricultural University, Dhaka from October 2017 to April 2018 to
evaluate the effects of three biostimulants Trichoderma based biostimulants (TB),
Seaweed Extract (SWE), Humic Substance (HS) and their combinations on
growth, yield, nutritional quality and antioxidant properties of tomato. The
experiment was laid out in Completely Randomized Design with four replications.
The study was comprised of 13 treatments : T
0
= Control (No biostimulants), T
=
25g/l TB, T
2
= 50g/l TB, T
3
= 75g/l TB, T
4
= 2 g/l SWE, T
5
= 10 g/l HS, T
= 25 g/l
TB + 2 g/l SWE, T
7
= 25 g/l TB + 10 g/l HS, T
8
= 50 g/l TB + 2 g/l SWE, T
= 50
g/l TB + 10 g/l HS, T
10
= 75 g/l TB+ 2 g/l SWE, T
11
6
= 75g/l TB + 10 g/L HS, T
=
2 g/l SWE + 10g/l HS, respectively. The results revealed that, T
positively
increased growth attributes resulting from the synergistic impact with better
nutrient uptake and increased the yield (179.61%) over the control. The treatment
T
also elicited an increase in total soluble solids as well as bioactive molecules
such as lycopene and ascorbic acid, thereby increasing the nutritional and
functional quality of the tomato fruits. Therefore, soil drenching of Trichoderma
with seaweed extract may be considered as a noble strategy for sustainable tomato
production with higher yield and superior quality.
