A Study on Production Practices Being Followed by Organic Tomato Growers in Bailhongal Taluk of Belagavi District of Karnataka

A study on production practices being followed by organic tomato growers in Bailhongal taluk of Belagavi district of Karnataka. The primary data were collected from 60 organic tomato growers / farmers through structured questionnaire method for the study. Adoption of seedling preparation practices in cultivation of organic tomato crop. It was noticed that 93.33 per cent of the respondent farmers adopted the raised bed method followed by 91.66 percent of the farmers followed raise the beds with 1 m width and 3 m length with a height of 20 cm. It was noticed that 80.00 per cent of the respondent farmers practiced to apply of 20-25 kg well decomposed FYM, Trichoderma harzianumat @ 4g per kg of FYM and 1-2 kg of neem cake per bed. 83.33 per cent of the respondent farmers used the correct rate of seedlings @ 7-8 thousand per acre. It was found that 86.66 per cent of the farmers were used to dip the roots of tomato seedling in suspension of 1-2 kg of Azatobacter or Azospirillum and PSB per 5-10 liter of water for 20-30 minutes before transplanting to the main field. It was noticed that 93.33 per cent of the farmers were following practices of growing green manure like sunhemp and sesbania rostrata etc. It was found that cent per cent of the organic vegetable growers applied recommended quantity of farm yard manure (5-10 t/acre) once in a year for tomato crop. It was found that 63.33 per cent farmers applied Phosphate solubalizers @ 1kg/acre for improving the soil fertility. The cent per cent of the farmers practicing the deep summer ploughing and crop rotation with non solanaceous crops like pulses / legumes for breaking the life cycle of the insects and pests. It was found that 91.66 per cent of the respondent farmer’s collection and destruction of affected plants and shoots. Majority of vegetable growers (98.33%) in tomato crop were found to use Neem Seed Kernel Extract (NSKE) at the rate of 2-5 ml / lit of water to control worms and whiteflies. 98.33 per cent of the farmers expressed that timely or regular weeding required for removing harmful weed from the field. 78.33 per cent of farmers got yield of organic tomato around 10-20 t / acre. Keywords: Organic tomato, Organic production practices, Green manuring.