Effect of Macro and Micronutrients on Tomato (cv. Heemshikhar) Performance under Protected Cultivation

Abstract

The investigation entitled “Effect of macro and micronutrients on tomato cv. Heemshikhar perfrormance under protected conditions” was conducted at Polyhouse, School of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, RIMT University, Mandi Gobindgarh, Punjab, during rabi 2023-24. The experiment consists of seven treatments viz. T1 Control, T2 (NPK 0.5 g + Zinc 50 ppm + Boron 50 ppm /plant), T3 (NPK 0.5 g + Zinc 100 ppm + Boron 100 ppm /plant),T4 (NPK 1 g + Zinc 50 ppm + Boron 50 ppm / plant), T5 (NPK 1 g + Zinc 100 ppm + Boron 100 ppm /plant), T6 (NPK 1.5 g + Zinc 50 ppm + Boron 50 ppm /plant) and T7 (NPK 1.5 g + Zinc 100 ppm + Boron 100 ppm /plant).The observations were recorded on growth, flowering, yield and quality traits.Results revealed that growth characters viz., plant height (216.22 cm), number of leaves per plant (31.47), minimum days to 50 per cent flowering (40.58 days) and number of flowers per plant (55.85) was found maximum in Treatment T7. For the traits number of fruits per cluster (8.22), number of fruits per plant (42.36), fruit length (4.42cm), fruit diameter (5.40cm) and average fruit weight (67.38 g) also recorded maximum values with the treatment T7. Yield characters viz., fruit yield per plant (2.41 kg), fruit yield per plot, (24.10 kg) and per hectare (296.43 q ha-1) recorded under the influence of (NPK 1.5 g + Zinc 100 ppm + Boron 100 ppm /plant). Fruit quality characters viz., TSS (4.57°Brix), pH (4.15), fruit firmness (4.13 kg/cm2) and dry matter content (5.71%) was also found superior under treatment T7.