Response of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) to fertigation by irrigation scheduling in drip irrigation system

Drip irrigation technique has proved its superiority over other methods of irrigation due to direct application of water and nutrient in the vicinity of root zone. A field study was conducted to evaluate the effect of irrigation and fertigation scheduling through drip irrigation in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) during Rabi season of 2015-16 at Rajasthan College of Agriculture, MPUAT, Udaipur. There were three irrigation levels and five fertilization levels in split-plot design with three replications. Nutrient content in plant and fruit was found higher under the application of drip irrigation at 100 % PE (I1) and at 100 % RDF through fertigation (F1). Maximum nutrient uptake by tomato i.e. nitrogen (166.83 kg ha-1), phosphorus (41.59 kg ha-1) and potassium (183.08 kg ha-1) was recorded with treatment combination of drip irrigation at 75 % PE (I2) + 75 % RDF through fertigation + 2 foliar spray of 1 % urea phosphate (F3). Similarly, significantly maximum yield and growth attributes i.e. fruit yield (201.25 q ha-1), plant height (67.43 cm) and number of branches (12.33) were registered with treatment combination of drip irrigation at 75 % PE and 75 % RDF through fertigation + 2 foliar spray of 1 % urea phosphate. Drip fertigation method has proved to be very significant in improving nutrient uptake which finally resulting in enhancement of growth and yield of tomato crop.