Yield and quality response of tomato to different irrigation regimes in dryland of Northern Ethiopia

The experiment was carried-out in Northern Ethiopia, with the objective to determine the effect of various irrigation levels on yield and quality response of tomato. Five irrigation levels: 100%, 75% of maximum water consumption (ETm) in all the growth stages, (100, 50, 50, 50%), (75, 75, 100, 25%) and (100, 75, 50, 25%) of maximum water consumption (ETm) in the corresponding growth stages. Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications was used. Crop, soil and weather data were collected for scheduling the irrigation using CROPWAT ver. 8 software. Data were analyzed using R software. The total fruit yield, marketable fruit yield and dry matter percentage were significantly affected by irrigation levels. However, the responses of growth parameters, unmarketable yield, firmness and total soluble solids (TSS) to deficit irrigation were found to be statistically nonsignificant. The highest total yield (405.5 q ha⁻¹) and marketable yield (352.53 q ha⁻¹) of tomato were found from irrigation levels of 75, 75, 100 and 25% with irrigation water use efficiency (WUE) of 75.4 kg ha⁻¹ mm⁻¹.