ISHS Acta Horticulturae 301: IV International Symposium on Processing Tomatoes
CHARACTERIZATION OF THE UCO VALLEY - MENDOZA, ARGENTINA - ASA PRODUCTION AREA FOR PROCESSING TOMATOES |
| Authors: | G. Gallardo, M.E. Buljan, A.E. Rearte, M.N. Pedrani |
| Abstract:
A project to evaluate the agronomic and industrial quality of processing tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) varieties has been conducted at La Consulta Experiment Station, INTA (33° 44'S, 300 mm of rainfall per year, and 940 m above sea level), jointly with INTI-CITEF. The objective has been to characterize the influence of the environmental conditions of the Uco Valley on fruit yield and its quality since 1974. Every year, trials on new plant introductions and comparative tests were carried out with those outstanding materials. In this study, data from nine years (1980–81 to 1989–90) were evaluated. Two hundred and ninety entries and a total of 466 observation were used for computational purposes. Total yield of fruits (TYF), pH, acidity and soluble solids (°Brix) were used as the variables under study. Data were statistically analyzed to characterize the region according to its agri-ecological aptitude (AEA) for processing tomatoes. Rainfall (mm) during January and February affects the TYF significantly. This relationship is explained by the quadratic polynomial, y = 70177 - 388.86X + 1.103X2(r2 = 0.70), where y is TYF and X is millimeters of rain during January-February. The minimum and maximum average of TYF per year ranges from 27020 kg/ha (1981) to 79,591 kg/ha (1986). According to TYF, the EEA La Consulta is characterized by a mean value of 45044 kg/ha with a standard deviation (STD) of 18115 kg/ha. The industrial aptitude of the region is defined by a mean pH value of 4.08 (0.26 STD), 4.95 °Brix (0.62 STD), and acidity value of 0.48 (0.10 STD). | |
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