Effect of Spacing and Supportive Training on Quality Parameters in Tomato Inder Protected Culture

An experiment was carried out by involving three levels each of spacing (S₁: 60x30cm, S₂: 60x45cm and S₃: 60x60cm)and training system (P₁: Single stem, P₂: Two stem and P₃: Three stem training system) in a Randomized BlockDesign(Factorial Concept) with three replications during rabi, 2013–14. The plants exposed to wider spacing (60x30cm) influenced significantly most of the quality parameters namely fruit volume (146.45cm³), pericarp thickness (8.30 mm), equatorial diameter (6.18 cm), polar diameter (6.68 cm), dry matter content (5.23 g), fruit texture (4.22 kg/cm²), total soluble solids (4.07°Brix), vitamin A (1109.44 IU), lycopene content (2.60 mg), and shelf life (20.65 days) except as corbicacid (15.87 mg) and physiological loss in weight (14.26%). Almost similartrend was observed in plants trained to single stem system (P₁) for most of the traits under the study except ascorbic acid. Where as interaction between spacing and training manifested non-significant effects for most of the traits except fruit volume and vitamin A, which were highly influenced by treatment combination S₃P₁.