MANAGEMENT OF DRIP-FERTIGATED TOMATOES FOR IMRPOVING YIELDS AND QUALITY UNDER ARID CONDITIONS

Abstract

The aim of this research was to clarify the role of fertigation technique management for improving tomatoes yields and quality under arid ecosystem conditions. Therefore, field experiments were carried out for two successive growing seasons (2010 and 2011), at the Experimental Farm of Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University, which located in EL-Bustan Region, Beheira Governorate (which represents sandy soils conditions of Egypt), Results revealed that the application of the total tomato plants-fertilizer requirements (100 kg-N per feddan) with bi-weekly fertigation interval and injecting fertilizers within the second-third of the total irrigation time may be an effective technical package of fertigation management under subsurface drip irrigated sandy soils for improving tomato yields and enhancement of the agricultural environment under drought ecosystem conditions. Also, data analysis revealed that there was a positive proportional trend between the fertigation rate and the residual N concentration in the tomato fruits. On the other hand, data indicated that a negative trend had been observed due to the fertigation frequencies.