Impact of integrated nutrient management on tomato yield under farmers field conditions

Field trials were conducted in farmer's field of Kandhamal district of Odisha, India to assess the impact of integrated nutrient management (INM) on the performance of tomato crop during rabi (2014) and kharif (2015) season. Before conducting trials technological gap between actual and potential productivity were analyzed by interviewing growers to find out the major causes for low yield. Overall gap in use of fertilizers was recorded 64.90% whereas overall mean gap in technology was 43.83%. On farm experiments on INM were conducted by applying FYM (10t ha⁻¹) (NPK) (150: 80: 60 kg ha⁻²) followed by dipping seedling roots in 1% Azotobacter solution for 15 min and foliar spray with 20 ppm ferrous ammonium sulphate after 30, 45 and 75 days of transplantation. The plant height, root length, number of primary branches, average fruit weight increased in INM plots as compared to farm practice. The increment in yield was found to be 28.84 and 33.86% during rabi and kharif season respectively. The maximum marketable yield obtained in INM plot during kharif and rabl seasons was 1025 q ha⁻¹ and 955 q ha⁻¹ respectively, whereas as farm practice yielded 740 q ha⁻¹ and 713 q ha⁻¹ during the same seasons. The percent loss from total production was recorded 8.5% and 8.8% in control plot and only 4.9% and 5.7% in INM plot durmg rabi and kharif season respectively. The higher fruit weight and lower incidence of disease and pest were observed in INM field in comparison to farm practice. The benefit cost ratio with INM treatment was recorded 4.39 and 4.29 in rabi and kharif season respectively against the benefit cost ratio of 3.10 and 2.94 in control plot during the same respective seasons.

• The INM applied crop rendered less number of fruits with higher weight.

• The quantity of chemical fertilizer required was reduced and tomato yield enhanced, therefore saving the amount of money on chemical fertilizer and pesticides through INM system.

• More steps should be taken to spread awareness among the farmers to bridge the gap in technology and in actual practices to promote the INM to enhance the yield, quality with maximum economic benefit.