Effect of Fertigation Levels and Schedules on Growth, Yield and Economic Returns of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.)

Front line demonstration was carried out at farmer’s field of Doddaballapur taluk, Bengaluru Rural district, Karnataka, India to study the fertigation levels and schedules on growth, yield and economic of tomato. The treatments included 3 fertigation levels (T1-60% of recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF), T₂ -80% of RDF and T₃-100% of RDF) with 3 fertigation schedules (T₁-farmers practice 30 equal splits of RDF at every 3 days interval, T₂-IIHR practice 37 equal splits of RDF at every 3 days interval and T₃-TNAU practice 40 equal splits of RDF at every 3 days interval). The results indicated that fertigation of 100 per cent RD of NPK in 40 equal splits at every 3 days interval upto 120 days after transplanting was found significantly superior in case of growth (plant height 138.83cm), yield attributes (number of fruits per plant 100.83) and fruit yield (71.89t/ha) of tomato. The economic benefits of drip irrigation resulted in maximum gross returns (Rs.3,59,450/ha) and B: C of 2.84 in T₃ treatment.