FARRMER'S NOTEBOOK
Bacterial wilt resistant tomato variety for Kerala
M.J. PRABU
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The fruits are red in colour, round in shape and medium in size
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— Photo: KAU
EXPECTED YIELD: Farmers can expect a yield of about 30 tonnes from a hectare.
TOMATO IS a hardy crop and can be grown on different types of soils that have a good facility for draining water. It is a popular vegetable crop throughout the country.
A high-yielding tomato variety with built-in resistance to bacterial-wilt has been developed by the scientists at the Department of Olericulture, Kerala Agricultural University.
According to Dr. T.R. Gopalakrishnan, Head, Department of Olericulture, College of Horticulture, Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur, the variety, named Anagha, has recorded an average yield of 30 tonnes per hectare under sound management conditions.
Disease free
The slightly acidic fruits, which are free from cracking, are preferred by consumers. It also has additional advantages such as tolerance to leaf curl and mosaic diseases, and resistance to both radial and concentric fruit cracking. It is also free from green shoulder infestations.
The fruits of Anagha are reddish, round, medium-sized, weighing about 45 gms.
Early maturing
The early-maturing variety is well adapted to warm humid tropics of Kerala, where bacterial-wilt is a serious problem. It is particularly suited for cultivating in Thrissur, Palakkad and Ernakulam districts.
The plants of this variety grow to an average height of 67 cm. The plants will come to flowering in 57 days after sowing, and the first picking of the fruits can be done 99 days after of sowing, according to the scientists. About 400 gms of seeds are required for one hectare.
Tomato is a transplantable vegetable. Seeds are sown in the nursery and one-month old seedlings are transplanted to the main field.
For sowing the seeds, raised seedbeds of 90 to 100 cm width and of convenient length are prepared in which well-decomposed organic matter is mixed. For avoiding damping off infestations of seedlings in the nursery, sow the seeds as sparsely as possible in raised beds prepared in the open area.
After sowing seeds, green leaves are mulched in the nursery beds and irrigation should be done daily in the morning. The mulch has to be removed immediately after the seeds germinate.
Restrict irrigation one week before transplanting and irrigate heavily on the previous day of transplanting.
Time of planting
For irrigated crop, the ideal time for transplanting seedlings to the main field is during October-November.
The main field is ploughed well by mixing 20-25 tonnes of rotten organic manure, 37.5 kg nitrogen, 40 kg phosphorus and 12.5 kg of potash and later levelled.
The seedlings are planted at a spacing of 60 x 60 cm in shallow trenches or pits dug on the levelled field. Transplanted seedlings may be given temporary shade for three to four days during hot periods.
About 19 kg nitrogen and 12.5 kg potash should be applied on the 25th day after transplanting.
The last dose of 19 kg nitrogen should be added when the crop is about two months old in the main field, according to Dr. Gopalakrishnan.
Irrigation may be done at an interval of two or three days. The plants may be staked if necessary.
Weeding followed by fertilizer application and earthing up may be done on the first and second months after transplanting.
Uproot and destroy the plants affected by mosaic virus. Control leaf spot diseases by spraying 0.2 per cent mancozeb
For more information, readers can contact Head, Department of Olericulture, Kerala Agricultural University, College of Horticulture, Thrissur-680656, email: kau_oleri@yahoo.com
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