An Evaluation of different Forms of Granulated Compound Fertilisers and Micronutrients on Solanum lycopersicum var. Swaraksha
Abstract
An open field experiment was conducted at the University of Mauritius Farm to evaluate the effects of different forms of compound fertilisers and the response of incorporating micronutrients along with the compound fertilisers on the vegetative growth and yield of Solanum lycopersicum, var. ‘Swaraksha’. Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium being three essential plant nutrient components, play important roles in the production of Solanum lycopersicum. Besides, micronutrients in minute amounts are also indispensable for proper plant development. The treatments were randomly arranged in block design (RBD) with four replicates. These were: control (T1), 13-13-20-2 complex (T2), 13-13-20-2 complex with micronutrients (T3), 13-13-20-2 blended form with micronutrient (T4) and 13-13-20-2 in compacted form (T5). The results showed that treatment T4 had the most significant upsurge ingrowth and yield of Solanum lycopersicum with respect to the control block and compared to the other forms of fertilisers. The yields were found to be 47.83 t/ha under T4 followed by 35.52 t/ha under T3. The highest number of flowers and fruits per plant were also observed in T4. Hence, it is essential to employ these nutritive components for satisfactory growth and yield of Solanum lycopersicum while taking into consideration the costs of inputs.
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Introduction
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) belonging to the Solanaceae family, is one of the utmost importance crop cultivated in Mauritius. It is a highly consumed crop both locally and around the World making a global production of up to 182,256,458 tonnes for the year 2018 (FAO, 2018). With regards to its nutritive value, 95% of S.lycopersicum content comprises of water and the other 5 % is carbohydrates and fibre (Bjarnadottir, 2015). The production of crop is the outcome of how well resources such as soil, water and nutrients are being used. Arise in the world’spopulation has led to an increase in the food production to be able to cater for the demands of the population which clearly comes from the amplification of agricultural production. The amount of fertilisers consumed is estimated to rise by 40 % between 2002 and 2030 (FAO, 2000). In the current experiment, the method of conventional farming is being put into practice which makes use of chemically manufactured fertilisers to monitor the health, growth and development of the plant for optimum yield. Fertilisers are crucial for the plant growth and development at their initial stage (Loks et al., 2014). In conventional agriculture, large amount of inorganic fertilisers is added to the soil to increase the quantity and the quality of the plant.
Agro-climatic conditions such as temperature, light and wind speed are also determining factors for a good plant performance. A day temperature of 25 ºC to 30 ºC and a night air temperature of 15 ºC to 20 ºC and a root zone temperature of 25.4 ºC to 26.3 ºC (Diaz-Perez & Batal, 2002). Below 10 ºC, the plants suffer from chilling injury and can cause fruit suppression (Naika et al., 2005). Light intensity has a powerful impact on the quality of the product and at the same time on the nutritional quality (Savvas and Passam, 2002). For photosynthesis, visible light is the source of energy (Xiong and Bauer, 2002). As the concentration of carbon dioxide increases in the atmosphere, the net photosynthesis also increases (Thongbai et al., 2010) and also when the stomata are opened and the plants are not in severe water stress (Kitaya et al., 2004). Fertilisers are categorised mainly under macronutrients and micronutrients. In the farming context, nitrogen is the first primary macronutrient for plant growth and is needed in great amounts. It is absorbed as nitrate and ammonium ions (Forde and Clarkson, 1999). Nitrogen is important for the formation of amino acids, proteins and vitamins. The deficiency of nitrogen in plants causes poor growth and development of and causes young leaf blades to turn yellow or light green, dieback on older leaves (Bianco et al., 2015).
De Groot et al., (2002) proclaimed that the rate of growth of S.lycopersicum expand rapidly with a high level of phosphorus. It promotes early root formation, growth and increase water-use efficiency (Grant et al., 2011). Deficiency of phosphorus include purple and red discoloration of leaf tips and margins, slender leaves, thin stalks, poor or no tillering and short internodes and finally poor growth (Kuo and Chiou, 2011). Potassium is the third macronutrient which is useful in carbohydrate breakdown and protein synthesis (Kadam et al., 2011) and also increases rate of photosynthesis (Battie-Laclau et al., 2014). A need in potassium can result in leaf wilt, distorted spindles, slim and short shoots. Gap analysis in the historical use of fertilisers revealed that no studies were conducted on the possible effects of different forms of compound fertilisers on a specific plant and the interest of incorporating microelements in the granules. Hence, it was hypothesized that the different forms of granulated compound fertiliers (13-13-20-2) would have no differences in plant development and yield of S.lycopersicum. The objectives of the experiment were to assess soil chemical parameters before and after experiment and to evaluate the effects of the different forms of compound fertilisers including micronutrients on S.lycopersicum
Conclusion
This work shows that inorganic complex fertiliser (13-13-20-2) under all its forms significantly affected the parameters like plant height, shoot and root biomass, root length, leaf area and leaf area. Moreover after the experiment, an increase in the NPK content was observed as compared with the untreated plots. Throughout the years, fertilisers have been changing in terms of structure, formulations. Although it was often refuted for it unevenness, blended fertiliser, could reduce the fertiliser cost and at the same time increase productivity to match the use of compacted and complexes. Moreover, trace elements also played an important role and have cause to have a yield of 35.52 t/ha and 47.83 t/ha. Farmers should consider well before purchasing fertilisers since it constitute quite a reasonable expenditure in the cost of production. Blended synthetic nutrients are primordial as it has a high degree of fertiliser use efficiency. Therefore, by this experiment, it can be concluded that if different forms of granular NPK fertilisers are to be used for a crop production, the blended mode one will function better than any other granular NPK fertilisers and will yield will be higher.
COMPETING INTEREST The author has declared that no competing interest exists.
