Effect of organic manures and inorganic fertilizers on plant growth, yield, fruit quality and shelf life of tomato (Solanum lycopersicon L.) C.V. PKM-1.

The present investigation entitled “Effect of Organic manures and Inorganic fertilizerson plant growth, yield, fruit quality and shelf life of Tomato (SolanumlycopersiconL.) C.V. PKM-1”, was conducted in Department of Horticulture, SHIATS and Allahabad 2013-14. The experiment was laid out RBD design with 13 treatments replicated thrice. The treatments consisted of different combinations of organic manures i.e, FYM, Poultry manure and Vermicompost and inorganic fertilizers. Among thirteen treatments under study, treatment T7 (50% RDF + 50% FYM) recorded maximum plant height (133.53 cm), minimum days to first flowering (29.47), maximum number of flower clusters per plant (8.67), maximum number of flowers per cluster (7.27), maximum number of fruits per cluster (5.67), maximum number of fruits per plant (36.72), maximum average fruit weight (41.67g), maximum fruit yield per plant (849 g), maximum fruit yield per plot (13.50 kg) and maximum fruit yield per ha (33.77 t) followed by the treatment T8 (50% RDF + 50% Poultry manure). Among quality parameters TSS (5.0 0 B) was found maximum in T7 (50% RDF + 50% FYM) followed by treatment T9 (50% RDF + 50% Vermicompost) whereas juiciness (33.84%), titrable acidity (1.06%), Ascorbic acid content (26.54mg/100 g fruit juice) and shelf life (11.67 days at normal room temperature) was maximum in treatment T9 (50% RDF + 50% Vermicompost) followed by T7 (50% RDF + 50% FYM). Maximum gross returns (Rs.3, 37,700 ha -1 ), net returns (Rs.2, 14,925 ha -1 ) and B:C ratio (2.75:1) was found with T7 (50% RDF + 50% FYM).