Influence of Zinc Levels and Application Methods on Growth and Yield of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.)

Abstract

A pot experiment was carried out to evaluate the growth and yield of tomato under different levels and application methods of Zinc as Zinc sulfate at Horticulture Farm, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka during the period from October 2017 to April 2018. The experiment comprising of two factors: Factor A: Z0: without Zinc; Z1=10 ppm ZnSO4; Z2=15 ppm ZnSO4; Z3=20 ppm ZnSO4; Z4=25 ppm ZnSO4 and Factor B: M1= Basal application; M2= Foliar application and M3= Combined basal and foliar application of Zinc. The two factors experiment was laid out in Complete Randomized Design with four replications. In case of Zn levels, the result revealed significant variation in most characteristics. Maximum plant height (96.13 cm), leaf number (34.51), leaf area (172.4 cm2), total number of flower (88.58), total fruit number (42.17), fruit set (47.61%), number of cluster/plant (10.67) and yield (2.38 kg) were at Z3. In case of application effect, (M3) provided the maximum yield (1.95 kg) per plant. The maximum yield (2.6 kg) per plant of tomato was obtained from the treatment combination of 15 ppm basal and foliar application of Zn.