PHENOLOCICAL CHANGES, YIELD AND QUALITY OF TOMATO (Lycopersicon esculentwn) AS INFLUENCED BY DIFFERENT DOSES OF FERTILIZERS AND COWDUNC

Abstract

An experiment was conducted in the field of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University. Dhaka, Bangladesh during the period from November 2008 to April 2009 to study the phenology. yield and quality of tomato 'Lycoperxicon esculentum) with different doses of Fertilizers and cowdung. The two factorial experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCI3D) with three replications. The experiment consisted of two factors, viz, factor A: Four levels of chemical fertilizer, F0: control; F1: 150 kg N + 100 kg P205 + 100 kg K20 + 10kg S/ha; 172: 200 kg N + 150 kg P205 + 125 kg K20 + 15kg S/ha and F3: 250 kg N + 200 kg P205 + 150 kg K20 + 20 kg S/ha and factor 13: Three levels of cowdung as Co: Control; C1: 5 ton cowdung/ha and C2: 10 ton cowdung/ha with the following treatment combinations of F0CO3 F0C1. F0C2. F1CO3 F1C1, F1C21 F2C0. F2C1, F2C2, F3C4, 173C1 and F3C2. The urea, TSP, MP and gypsum were used as a source of N. P205. K20 and S. respectively. The seedlings of tomato var. BARI Tomato-6 (chaiti) were raised at the nursery of the university farm. The plant height, number of leaves per plant and number of branches per plant were increased at different days after transplanting almost in the all treatments. The highest plant height (127.04 cm) and the lowest plant height (101.24 cm) were recorded with F1C2 and F0C2 treatment. respectively. The maximum number of leaves and branches were observed in F2C1. The highest number of flower cluster per plant, number of flowers per plant, number of flowers per cluster, number of fruits per plant. fruit length, fruit diameter and yield per hectare (67.93 i/ha) were observed from F2C1 treatment. In addition, F2C1 treatment produced tomato fruit earlier (76.30 days) than other treatments with highest shell life (10.67 days). Separately, the highest content of total soluble solid of tomato was recorded in F2C2 treatment. No significant differences were observed between F1C2 and 172C1 treatment in respect of phenology. yield and quality of tomato. The treatment combinations of F1C2 might be recommended for tomato production rather than 1`2C1, due to sources of plant nutrients through cowdung is better than inorganic sources to keep safe environment.