Optimal Irrigation Scheduling for Greenhouse Tomato Crop (Solanum Lycopersicum L.) in Ecuador

Tomato crop is grown worldwide and is considered a mass consumer product. In Ecuador, tomato growers face two major issues: water scarcity and water mismanagement, which cause a reduction in the framers’ gross income and ecosystem services. This paper is aimed at finding an optimal irrigation schedu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Agronomy (Basel) 2022-05, Vol.12 (5), p.1020
Main Authors: Colimba-Limaico, Javier Ezcequiel, Zubelzu-Minguez, Sergio, Rodríguez-Sinobas, Leonor
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acidity
Agricultural production
Crops
Dosage
drip irrigation
Ecosystem services
Experiments
Farmers
Fertilizers
Fruits
Greenhouses
Horticulture
Irrigation
irrigation frequency
Irrigation scheduling
Nitrogen
Potassium
Salinity
Solanum lycopersicum
tomato production
tomato quality
Tomatoes
water dose
Water quality
Water scarcity
Water shortages
Water use
Water use efficiency
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Summary:Tomato crop is grown worldwide and is considered a mass consumer product. In Ecuador, tomato growers face two major issues: water scarcity and water mismanagement, which cause a reduction in the framers’ gross income and ecosystem services. This paper is aimed at finding an optimal irrigation scheduling in greenhouse tomato crop to achieve a balance among production, fruit quality and water use efficiency. Thus, two experiments were settled. In the first experiment, four water doses (80, 100, 120 and 140% ETc) and two irrigation frequencies (one and two irrigations per day) were compared. The second experiment evaluated the two best water doses of the first one (100 and 120% ETc) and four irrigation frequencies (one and two irrigations per day, one irrigation every two days, one irrigation every three days). Each experiment monitored the variables for tomato production (plant height, stem diameter, fruits per plant, yield) and tomato quality (pH, total soluble solids, titratable acidity). The study concluded that water doses affected more than irrigation frequency to fruit quality and production. The dose of 100% ETc, applied in one irrigation per day, is suggested to obtain a balance between production, fruit quality and water use efficiency.
ISSN:2073-4395
2073-4395
DOI:10.3390/agronomy12051020