Evaluating the Effect of Integrated Use of Farm Yard Manure and Urea on the Yield &Yield components Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill) in the Low Land Irrigated Areas of North western Tigray, Ethiopia

Abstract

The prevailing higher prices of inorganic fertilizer along with low nutrient value and shortage of organic nutrient sources like Farm Yard Manure (FYM) has become a main problem in managing soil fertility problems, especially for resource poor farmers. So, integrated use of organic and inorganic plant nutrient sources help to overcome problems with the sole application and have more rewarding on stability in production and in maintaining soil fertility. Based on this, a field experiment was conducted to study the effect of integrated use of organic (FYM) and inorganic (Urea) plant nutrient sources on yield and yield components of irrigated tomato(Lycopersicon esculentum Mill),in Tselemti wereda, May ani site during the 2012/13 off season time. Organic (FYM) and inorganic (Urea) nutrient sources was integrated in different proportions to supply 60Kgha^-1 of Nitrogen (N) from both sources at different ratios. The treatment combinations are T1 (control or with no fertilizer), T2 (100%IF), T3 (25% FYM+75%IF), T4 (50%FYM+50IF), T5 (75%FYM+25%IF) & T6 (100%FYM).Phosphorus was applied at a recommended rate in the form of TSP, adjusted on the basis of phosphorus present in the soil and FYM. The experiment was arranged in RCB Design with four replications. Tomato (variety; Roma VF) was used. Top soil (0-30cm) was sampled before transplanting& after harvest and analyzed for selected soil properties and FYM also analyzed for its chemical composition prior to its application. The results revealed that there was a significant difference in tomato marketable yield and fruit parameters recorded among the treatments. Integrated use of FYM and Urea N sources in 25:75 ratios produced the maximum marketable yield (375.4Qlha-¹), fruit yield/plant (2.37Kg),& fruit number/plant (32) and fruit diameter (4.67cm) of tomato followed by plots fertilized with 50:50 ratios.. From this study, it can be concluded that, combined application of FYM with Urea at (25:75&50:50 ratios) significantly increased the tomato yield than other combinations. Therefore, it is recommended to use these combinations for tomato producers of Tselemti wereda for better tomato yield and sustainable soil fertility.

Keywords: FYM, Inorganic, Integrated, Organic, Soil fertility, Tomato, Urea, Yield, Sole application