African Journal of
Agricultural Research

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Agric. Res.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1991-637X
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJAR
  • Start Year: 2006
  • Published Articles: 6914

Full Length Research Paper

Interactive effects of nitrogen, phosphorus and zinc on growth and yield of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)

Haq Nawaz1*, Muhammad Zubair1 and Hafiz Derawadan2
  1Department of Horticulture, Agriculture University Peshawar, Pakistan. 2Mingora Research Station, Swat, Pakistan.
Email: [email protected], [email protected]

  •  Accepted: 15 June 2012
  •  Published: 10 July 2012

Abstract

 

An experiment "interactive effects of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and zinc (Zn) on growth and yield of tomato" was carried out at North Mingora Agriculture Research Station, Pakistan. The experiment was laid out by three factors factorial in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) and all treatments were replicated three times. Four levels of nitrogen (0, 100, 150 and 200 kg/ha), four levels of phosphorus (0, 60, 80 and 100 kg/ha) and three levels of zinc (0, 5 and 10 ppm) were applied. The results pertaining to various growth and yield parameters showed that early flowerings were observed when plots received phosphorus at 100 kg/ha and zinc at 10 ppm without nitrogen. In contrast, flowerings were significantly delayed when plots received nitrogen alone at 200 kg/ha. The minimum disease incidence (3.67%) was recorded in plots applied with phosphorus at 100 kg/ha and zinc at 10 ppm without nitrogen. Maximum number of fruit per plant (41.67) was observed when plots received nitrogen at 150 kg/ha, phosphorus at 100 kg/ha and zinc at 10 ppm. Total yield (28.43 t/ha) was 100% increased as compared to control (13.44 t/ha) when plots received nitrogen at 150 kg/ha, phosphorus at 100 kg/ha and zinc at 10 ppm.

 

Key words: Nitrogen (N) - phosphorus (P) – zinc (Zn) interactions, tomato, growth, yield.