Response of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill) to integrated application of effective microorganisms treated compost, conventional compost and inorganic fertilizers

Abstract

Tomato is the third largest vegetable crop after potato and sweet potato and as a processing crop it ranks first among all vegetables. China is the biggest tomato producer in the world, Ethiopia produces 40,426 tons every year. However, the total production and productivity in Ethiopia is far below than the average of major producers in Africa. Among many contributing factors, lack of optimum fertilizer use among tomato growers is a felt problem. In view of this fact, a 2X10 factorial experiment arranged in Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications was conducted to determine the comparative benefits of using organic and inorganic fertilizers in combination or alone on tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill) production and quality in the horticultural farm of Jimma University College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine (JUCAVM), Jimma during 2010/2011under irrigation. The experiment consisted of two commonly grown tomato varieties Fetane and Bishola and 10 fertilizer combinations (Control (with no fertilizer), inorganic fertilizer alone, conventional compost alone, Effective microorganisms treated compost alone, ¼ Effective microorganisms treated compost + ¾ inorganic fertilizer, ½ Effective microorganisms treated compost + ½ inorganic fertilizer, ¾ Effective microorganisms treated compost + ¼ inorganic fertilizer, ¼ conventional compost + ¾ inorganic fertilizer, ½ conventional compost + ½ inorganic fertilizer and ¾ conventional compost + ¼ inorganic fertilizer). The plot size used was 2.8 m x 2.1 m. Coffee pulp was used for preparation of compost material treated with & without effective microorganisms and the inorganic fertilizers used was Urea and DAP (200kg/ha for Urea and 150kg/ha for DAP). The result revealed that the interaction of fertilizer with variety significantly (p<0.001) affected fruit number plant-1 , average fruit weight (g) plant-1 , total fruit yield (g) plant-1 , total fruit yield (t) hectare-1 and marketable fruit yield (t) hectare-1 . Regarding the quality parameters Bishola performed best over Fetane. The maximum total fruit yield ha-1 (47.92 and 37.38 t) was recorded from Fetane that received ¼ Effective microorganisms treated compost + ¾ inorganic fertilizer and full dose of inorganic fertilizer respectively. While the least (13.92 t) was recorded from the control treatment of Bishola. The same was true for marketable yield ha-1 . The maximum unmarketable fruit yield ha-1 (4.527t) was recorded from Bishola variety. Fetane variety that received ¼ Effective microorganisms treated compost + ¾ inorganic fertilizer performed best almost for all yield contributing characteristics. It can be suggested that for obtaining higher yield of tomato fruits, which may help to reduce the use of inorganic fertilizers. Soil parameters such as organic carbon, cation exchange capacity, organic matter, bacteria and fungi colony were also significantly influenced by different proportion of fertilizers. The highest organic carbon (3.083%), CEC (19.99), organic matter (3.083%), bacteria (8.137 CFU g-1 soil (log 10)) and fungi (6.739 CFU g-1 soil (log 10)) colony were recorded from full dose of Effective microorganisms treated compost. It can be stated that application of organic compost specially treated by EM can significantly increase the soil nutrient content. However, before making any final recommendation the effect of these treatments should be seen on subsequent crops on that particular field and Cost benefit analysis should be done