RESPONSE OF TOMATO (Lycopersicum esculentum) VARIETIES TO NPK FERTILIZER AND GREEN MANURE RATES IN THE NIGERIAN AGRO-ECOLOGICAL AREAS

Abstract

Field experiments were conducted in 2017 and 2018 dry seasons at Research Farm of the Institute for Agricultural Research, Samaru and Kadawa to study the response of tomato varieties to NPK fertilizer and green manure rates in the Nigerian Agro- ecological areas. The treatments consisted of two tomato varieties (Roma VF and UC82B), four NPK 15-15-15 fertilizer rates (0, 200, 400 and 600 kg ha^-1) and three green manure rates (0, 10 and 20 t ha^-1) that were laid out in a split-plot design with three replications. The combination of variety and NPK fertilizer was assigned to the main plot and green manure rate to the subplot. Results revealed that variety UC82B was superior to Roma VF and to some of the measured growth parameters such as number of leaves, number of branches and leaf area index and yield attributes like fruit number per plant and total fresh fruit yield; however, Roma VF had wider fruit diameter. NPK fertilization at 400 kg ha^-1 significantly increased leaf area index, fruit number per plant and total fresh fruit yield per plant. However, increasing NPK fertilizer rate beyond 400 kg ha^-1 did not increase yield significantly. Green manure application at 20 t ha^-1 resulted to significant increase in some growth parameters and yield attributes at both locations. The study concluded that green manure application increased soil N, soil P, soil K contents. It was recommended that for better yield in the study area, variety UC82B with combination of 200 kg ha^-1 NPK fertilizer and 20 t ha^-1 green manure should be selected for further study.