Tomato is a versatile vegetable. This vegetable is rich in vitamins, organic acids and mineral salts throughout the year. When your little ones don’t finish the tiffin, the ketchup lured to finish the lunch is made from tomatoes. Noodles have become the identity of every class and modernity nowadays. The chutney or sauce falling in it is also prepared from tomatoes.
In this way, tomato is also used as a vegetable in many other forms such as salad, ketchup, soup. Farmer brothers can earn lakhs of rupees by growing tomato cultivation as a cash crop. Also, by becoming an affiliate of online shopping malls like Big Basket, you can make millions and crores from the advanced cultivation of tomatoes. Everyone has some questions in their mind, such as, How to cultivate tomatoes? How to earn from improved tomato cultivation? How to do tomato cultivation with scientific technology? Or information is sought about the production technology of tomatoes. So let’s know complete details about the progressive cultivation of tomatoes.
Introduction of Tomatoes
Botanical name: Lycopersicon Esculentum
Place of Origin: Peru and Mexican (America) Tomato was brought to India by the Portuguese.
Nutrient Value in Tomatoes: For the nutritional content of 100 grams of Tomatoes, see the table –
| Nutrient name | Nutrient content (in grams) |
| Protein | 1.9 g |
| Carbohydrate | 3.6 g |
| iron | 1.8 mg |
| Thiamine | 0.07 mg |
| Riboflavin | 0.01 mg |
| Chlorine | 38.00 mg |
| Vitamin C | 31.00 mg |
| Vitamin A | 320 IU |
| Copper | 0.19 mg |
| Potassium | 11400 mg |
| Calorie | 23 |
Climate and Temperature
Botanically, the tomato is a climatic plant. But nowadays, advanced cultivation of tomatoes is done successfully even in cold places. 18 – 27 centigrade temperature is suitable for commercial tomato cultivation. Lower than usual temperature adversely affects tomato production and fruit quality.
Improved Varieties of Tomatoes
Early Varieties: BSS 90, HM 102, Hisar Arun, Hisar Lalima, Hisar Lalit, Krishna, KS 2, Naveen, Pusa Early Dwarf, Pusa Sankar 2, Pusa Ruby, Pusa Uphaar, Rajni, Rupali
Medium and late varieties: Arka Saurabh, Arka Vikas, ARTH 3, Avinash 2, Co03, HS 110, Selection 12, Hisar Anmol, Matri, Pusa 120, Punjab Chuhara, Pant Bahar, Pusa Divya, Rashmi, Ratna
Selection of Land
We should select soil with proper drainage and rich in organic matter, To get the maximum benefit from the improved cultivation of tomatoes. Apart from this, tomato cultivation is also done successfully in sandy loam and red and black soil. Furthermore, tomato cultivation can also be done on grounds with a pH value of 7- 8.5.
Land Preparation
To get maximum production from improved tomato cultivation, do 2 to 3 ploughings by cultivator after ploughing with soil turning plough. You can also use a harrow if a cultivator is not available. After every ploughing, run the pad to break the lumps that came out during ploughing. Moreover, the land should also be flat.
Construction of Nursery
250 square meter space is sufficient for a tomato nursery. We want to build a nursery in that field, plough it, and make beds of 7.5 m * 1.2 m * 0.1 m. After this, leave the beds for a week to soak in the sun to destroy the pathogenic organisms. This process is called solarisation.
Now add cow dung manure or vermicompost at 4 kg/m and mix it in the soil. Treat the seed with Bavistin or Thiram (2g/kg) before sowing. Also, treat the ground with 10% formaldehyde solution so that there is no risk of damping off. Sow the seeds in the evening and cover the beds with paddy straw or sugarcane leaves. Remove the straw from the beds after the seeds germinate and irrigate the beds from the fountain in the morning. One and a half months after sowing, the seedlings are ready for transplanting.
Planting Tomatoes
Farmers should transplant tomato plants in the evening or in cool weather. Light irrigation should be given to the crop after transplanting. Then, replant the plants which were uprooted during irrigation. By doing this, there will be no problem of gaping.
Fertilisers
The maximum and quality yield from tomato cultivation depends on manure and fertilisers. Fertiliser application is appropriate only after soil testing. Use fertilisers as per soil report card. If soil testing is not done, we should give Nitrogen 120 kg, Phosphorus 60 kg, and Potash 50 kg per hectare. The use of natural fertilisers like sludge, neem cake, cow dung, etc., is beneficial in tomato cultivation. Divide the amount of nitrogen into two equal parts and give one piece at the plant growth time and the other at flowering and fruit formation.
Irrigation and Drainage Management
Irrigate the tomato crop at an interval of 8 to 12 days. In order to save water consumption, sprinkler irrigation and drip irrigation are recommended by agricultural scientists nowadays.
Weed Control
Due to the moisture on the tomato crop, many weeds grow. Therefore, while weeding, we should cover the roots of the plants with soil. So that the roots of the plants do not come out, for weed control, use any weed killer like – Pendimethalin 1 kg active ingredient 45 days after transplanting. This chemical will destroy the weeds. Apart from this, you can use Power Weeder to control the weeds.
Fruit Picking
According to the requirement, Harvest tomatoes are generally harvested when they are ripe, or pink or red and overripe. If tomatoes have to be sent to a faraway place for marketing, it is best to harvest underripe pink tomatoes. On the other hand, if the approach to seed production of tomato is to be harvested, then the selection of ripe red fruits should be made. Light red or pink fruits should be harvested for salads and vegetables.
Crop Production
The crop yield depends on the fertile strength of the land, climate and temperature, improved variety, and care of the crop – usually, 250-300 quintals of tomato yields are obtained from advanced types and 500-600 quintals per hectare from hybrid varieties.
We hope this is enough for now. We will come with the next blog, so wait for our next blog.