Mitigating Natural Heat Stress for Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L) Production through Management Techniques

An experiment was conducted to identify suitable production management techniques for tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) cultivation during late winter-pre monsoon season in plains of Nepal. For this, organic mulches (rice straw, dried grass, and rice husk) were compared with SN (shade net) and no-mulch (bare field) condition for tomato yield in 2018 and 2019. The pooled analysis of all observed morphological and yield traits were performed and they differed significantly. Rice husk significantly affected number of fruits per inflorescence though number of inflorescence per plant and flowers per inflorescence were similar among organic mulches. The highest fruit yield per plant (4.44 kg plant-1) was obtained with rice husk, the other mulches and SN were at par but the lowest yield (2.75 kg plant-1) was obtained with no-mulch. Similarly, rice husk mulch contributed to the highest number of fruits per inflorescence (5.22), highest fruit weight (46.58 g) and diameter (4.99 cm).Fruit yield positively and significantly associated with fruit per inflorescence(0.78***), fruit diameter (0.65***) and an average fruit weight (0.56***).Organic mulches significantly (p=0.05) contributed to higher yield (86.01 t ha-1) over SN (76.55 t ha-1).Higher values for total soluble solid, Vitamin C and fruit firmness were observed under rice husk mulching. The result of the present study found rice husk mulching as better option for tomato production as compared to SN and no-mulch condition.