Influence of irrigation on yield and cracking of two processing tomato cultivars

Abstract

The effects of different irrigation treatments under furrow irrigation, and their respective soil water tension regimes on both the productive response and presence of fruit cracking were studied in this experiment, which was carried out in 1993–94. Two tomato cultivars used for processing, Guay® and Rio Grande@reg, were grown under floating cover with furrow irrigation.

Irrigation treatments were based on ETc, and were 0.5 and 1 ETc. Soil water tension was measured with tensiometers throughout the treatment.

Higher levels of irrigation increased yields. Longitudinal cracking appeared most frequently in this experiment. Fruit cracking was considerable after high fluctuations in soil matric potential following high negative values of this parameter. Differences in fruit cracking were detected between irrigations. Differences in cultivar susceptibility to fruit cracking were also detected. Fruit cracking was more frequent when temperatures were higher.