Cherry Tomato Crop Management Under Irrigation Levels: Morphometric Characteristics and Their Relationship with Fruit Production and Quality

• Published in: Gesunde Pflanzen 2023-08, Vol.75 (4), p.1277-1288
• Main Authors: Silva, Patrícia Costa, Ferreira, Ana Flávia Alves, Araújo, Emanuelly Siva, Bessa Neto, José Veira, Costa, Adriana Rodolfo da, Fernandes, Ludiely dos Santos, Martins, Alexia Amiluana Sousa, Cândido, Ruan da Silva, Jardim, Alexandre Maniçoba da Rosa Ferraz, Pandorfi, Héliton, Silva, Marcos Vinícius da
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agriculture; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Brix value; Coefficient of variation; Crop management; Crop production; Crops; Efficiency; Evapotranspiration; Fruits; Greenhouses; Irrigation; Life Sciences; Organoleptic properties; Original Article; Originalbeitrag; Physical characteristics; Plant Pathology; Principal components analysis; Regression analysis; Regression models; Solanum lycopersicum cerasiforme; Statistical analysis; Tomatoes; Water deficit; Water use; Water use efficiency
• ISSN: 0367-4223; 1439-0345
• DOI: 10.1007/s10343-022-00770-8

Cherry tomato is one of the most cultivated crops in greenhouse, due to its morphological and organoleptic characteristics. Thus, the objective was to evaluate the morphometric and productive characteristics and the total soluble solids content of the cherry tomato crop, submitted to irrigation depths. The experiment was carried out in a greenhouse in a completely randomized design, with 4 irrigation depths, 50, 75, 100, and 125% of crop evapotranspiration (ET c ) with 10 replications, totaling 40 experimental plots. Applications of irrigation depths were performed using a drip system. The following characteristics of cherry tomatoes were determined: plant height (HP), stem diameter (SD), number of fruits (NF), fruit diameter (FD), fruit length (FL), fruit weight (FW), total soluble solids (°Brix) of the juice, yield (FY) and water use efficiency (WUE). Data were subjected to descriptive statistics, principal component analysis (PCA), principal component correlation (PCC, using Pearson’s correlation), and multivariate regression models were established. The coefficient of variation (CV) was high for all treatments for the variables NF, FW, FY, and WUE. The treatment of 50% of ET c presented the highest averages for °Brix, because the water deficit increases fruit quality (> °Brix), on the other hand, the lowest FY was observed. In PCA, there was the formation of 3 distinct groups, group 1 (NF, FW, FY, and WUE); group 2 (HP and SD); group 3 composed only of °Brix. The best results obtained in the production of cherry tomatoes were for an irrigation depth of 100% of crop evapotranspiration (ET c ) with the best range of water use efficiency for 50 and 100% of ET c . The model established to determine cherry tomato production and water use efficiency proved to be effective and with satisfactory adjustments and validations.