ISHS Acta Horticulturae 487: VI International Symposium on Processing Tomato & Workshop on Irrigation & Fertigation of Processing Tomato
LOWER SACRAMENTO VALLEY PROCESSING TOMATO IRRIGATION FIELD TEST RESULTS |
| Author: | M. Murray |
| Keywords: | irrigation, California, processing tomatoes, Lycopersicon esculentum |
| Abstract:
The impact of the timing of pre-harvest termination of irrigation and the use of alternate row furrow irrigation were evaluated in two processing tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) fields in the Lower Sacramento Valley. The tests were conducted in grower production fields, using commercially available varieties. Three irrigation termination dates were used: the "grower's practice" (25 or 30 days prior to harvest): a "moderate stress" (38 days before harvest, one less irrigation) and; a "severe stress" (51 or 59 days before harvest, two less irrigations). Alternate row irrigation treatments were terminated 30 or 38 days before harvest. The soil moisture status in the plots was monitored with gypsum blocks in one of the tests. Fruit yields were significantly reduced by the severe stress irrigation treatment in one year (-34 %) but not in the other, compared to the grower practice. Yields in the moderate stress or alternate row treatments were not significantly different from the grower practice in either test. The fruit soluble solids were significantly increased in the severe stress irrigation treatment in one test (+12 %), compared to the growers practice, but not the other. There were no significant differences between the soluble solids of mild stress or alternate row treatments and the growers practice in either test. There were no significant differences between any treatments in either test for fruit pH or size. There appeared to be a greater amount of red and limited use fruit in the severe stress treatment, compared to the grower practice, in one test, but this data did not lend itself to statistical analysis. The fruit color did not appear to differ between treatments in that same test, but statistical limitations were also encountered. | |
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