Tomato

Tomato
• Solanum lycopersicum

Family
Solanaceae

Nature
Annual to perennial

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 Origin
• Wild type tomato species are thought to be
native of western part of South America,
specifically in the dry coastal desert of Peru.

• Tomato is perennial in its natural habit, but

elsewhere behaves as annual.

Health Beneits
• Have important role in health and vigour.

• Helpful in healing wounds because ripe fruit have

antibiotic properties.

• Good source of vitamin A, B and C.

• Have high β-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A.

• Have lycopene that imparts red colour.

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 Uses
Tomato can be:
• Baked
• Fried
• Juiced
• Processed into ketchup
• Salad purpose.

Vegetable Production Statistics in Pakistan

Radish, 2%
Vegetables Prod. (tonnes)
Sugar beet, 2%
1. Potatoes 3,840,743
2. Onion 1,981,692 Peas, 2% Others,
3. Melons 540,379 18%
4. Tomatoes 572,837
Potatoes,
5. Turnip 264,199 Cauliflower
38%
6. Carrot 236,872 , 2%
7. Cauliflower 217,518
Carrot, 2%
8. Peas 165,222
9. Sugar beet 160,301 Turnip, 3% Onion,
10. Radish 159,214 20%
Others 1,699,901 Tomatoes, 6%
Total 9,441,229 Melons, 5%

▪ Average yield is 14.06 tonnes/hectares

Source: Fruit, vegetables and condiments statistics of Pakistan, 2016-17 (Economic Wing, Ministry of National
Food Security and Research, Govt. of Pakistan)

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 Plant Parts
Roots
• It has a tap root about 2 ft. long with several
laterals bearing fibrous roots.
• Adventitious roots also develop from stem
portion.
Stem
• The main stem is erect up to a height of 1-2 ft. in
determinate varieties but more in indeterminate
varieties.
• Branches arise from the axils of the leaves
which bear secondary branches or laterals.

Plant Parts
Flowers
• Tomato flower is normally perfect.

• 4-8 flowers in each compound inflorescence.

•
• There is a tight protective anther cone surrounding
stigma leading to self pollination.

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 Fruit
• Tomato fruit is fleshy.
• Botanically, it is a berry having
seeds within a fleshy pericarp.
• The shape of the fruit varies from
round, oblate, elongated, to pear
shape.
• Color can be lemon yellow, orange,
pink but mostly red.
• Young fruit is green due to the
presence of chlorophyll.

FRUIT COLOUR

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 Plant Growth Habit
Determinate

• These types are compact and small

(dwarf) plants, with short
internodes.

• Flower clusters are borne with one

or two leaves (nodes) between
them.

• After several flower clusters, shoot

will end in a terminal inflorescence.

• Fruit tend to ripe at one time or over

a short period of time.

Plant Growth Habit

Indeterminate

• Three to four leaves are produced between two

consecutive flower clusters.

• Shoot does not terminate in inflorescence.

• Plant continues to grow in a vine fashion.

• Needs staking.

• Fruit ripe gradually throughout the season.

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 Indeterminate Growth Habit

Farming Types
• Tomato can be grown:

– in home gardens

– by market gardeners

– by truck farmers

– out of season (vegetable forcing)

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 Climatic Requirements
• Warm season crop that requires long season
to produce high yield.

• Requires 80-120 days from seeding to

bearing.

• Low temperature without actual freezing

inhibit fruiting.

• It is sensitive to frost, which kills seedlings

and large plants are also damaged.
Frost damage
• High temperature (<32°C) inhibits pollination
and fruit setting.

Climatic Requirements
• High temperature and drought spell cause flower
and fruit drop.

• Therefore, it is difficult to get crop from mid May

to June.
•
• Crop growth and yield is severely affected
during rainy season due to insect and disease
attack.

• Temperature for plant growth and fruiting:

– Nights: 15-20°C
– Days: 25-30°C

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 Soil
• All types.
– Loam, clay loam and silt loam, with high
organic matter produce high yields.

• Sandy soils for early crop

• pH 5.5 to 7.5.

Seed Rate and Sowing Time

• Seed rate = 500-600 g/ha.

• Nursery sown in July/Aug

– Transplanted in Aug./Sept.

• Nursery sown in Sept.

– Transplanted in Oct. (Needs
protection from frost)

• Nursery sown in Nov.

– Transplanted in Feb./March

• Nursery for Hill crop

• Sown in March/April
• Transplanted in May/June

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 Plant Spacing
• Channels 1-1.5 m apart.

• Plant-to-plant distance is 60 cm apart.

• Seedlings are transplanted on both sides

of beds.

• In high tunnel: 45 cm spacing on both

sides of drip line or on both sides of beds
in case of flood irrigation.

Fertilizers
• FYM---20-25 t/ha

• N----100 kg/ha in 3 splits

• P---80 kg/ha

• K---40 kg/ha

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 Irrigation
• Depends on soil type and climatic conditions.

• Warm season (up to 30°C)

– 5-6 days on sandy soil
– 10-12 days on clayey soils

• Fortnight application during cold periods.

• When temperature gets high – weekly irrigation.

• Period of drought followed by sudden heavy irrigation

causes fruit to crack.

• Plant is susceptible to wet feet; avoid standing water in

root zone.

Varieties
• Determinate OPs • Hybrids
for open field (indeterminate) for
– Lyallpur Selection I tunnel farming
– Naqeeb
– Peshawar Long – Sahil
– T-10 – Salar
– Money maker – Sandal
– Roma
– Red top
– Tibrido
– Ahmar

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 Varietal Selection
• Purpose to raise crop (type of gardening).

• Length of growing season.

• Yield.

• Ability to withstand handling during transport and

marketing.

• Susceptibility to diseases and insect-pests.

Harvesting
• Fruit can be picked after every 3 days.

• Fruit should be picked when start changing

colour (colour break stage).

• Stage of maturity at which fruit should be picked

depends on purpose for which they are grown.
– Mature green with colour break for distant markets
– Turning for local and nearby markets
– Half-ripe/pink for local markets
– Ripe for processing purpose/home gardens

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 Yield
• 20-24 tonnes/ha

Diseases

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 Fusarium and Verticillium Wilt
• Soil borne pathogens
survive for years.

• Plants are affected through

roots.

• Rotation for 2-3 years.

• Use resistant varieties.

Fusarium wilt

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 Root and crown rot caused by
Fusarium causing Wilt

Early Blight
• The leaf spots are generally dark brown to black, often
numerous and enlarging, and usually developing in
concentric rings, which give the spots a target-like
appearance.

• Lower, senescent leaves are usually attacked first, but the

disease progresses upward and make affected leaves turn
yellowish, become senescent, and either dry up and droop
or fall off.

• Dark sunken spots develop on branches and stems of

tomato plants.

• Stem lesions developing on seedlings may form cankers,

which may enlarge, girdle the stem, and kill the plant.

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 Early Blight
• Controlled primarily through the use of resistant
varieties, disease-free or treated seed, and
chemical sprays with appropriate fungicides.

• Adequate nitrogen fertilizer generally reduces

the rate of infection by Alternaria.

• Crop rotation, removal and burning of plant

debris, and eradication of weed hosts

Early Blight

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 Late Blight
• Symptoms appear at first as water-soaked spots, usually at the
edges of the lower leaves.

• In moist weather, the spots enlarge rapidly and form brown, blighted
areas with indefinite borders.

• Fuzzy growth on the underside of leaf lesions is produced by the

pathogen under moist conditions and consists mostly of spores.

• Soon entire leaves are infected, die, and become limp.

• Under continuously wet conditions, all tender aboveground parts of

the plants blight and rot away.

• Tomato leaves, stems, and fruit are also attacked.

• Entire tomato fields may be destroyed.

Late blight

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 Tomato canker and wilt

Bacterial Spot on leaves and fruit

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 Sclerotium rot of fruit
(post-harvest problem)

Pests
• Borers
• White-fly
• Aphids
• Jassids
• Thrips
• Cutworms

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 Borer in the Fruit

Plant infected with Whitefly

• Adult feeding is usually of very
little direct consequence

• Adults of B. argentifolii can

cause light spotting of small
fruit.

• Adults may transmit viruses,

particularly geminiviruses, that
cause very serious diseases.

• The most noteworthy is tomato

yellow leaf curl virus, which
reduces new growth so
severely that there is little or no
subsequent yield.

Irregular ripening
(tissue whitening) due to
feeding of nymphs on fruit

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 Aphids
• Cause cupping and yellowing of leaf
margins

Cutworm
• Cut stem of young seedlings at soil line.

• Active at night.

• Hide under soil or under debris during day time.

• May climb and feed on green fruit as well.

• Physical barriers around stem.

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 Viruses
• Tobacco Mosaic Virus

• Cucumber Mosaic Virus

• Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus

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