Effect of foliar fertilizers on tomato (Lycospersicon esculentum Mill) yield on a Kamuli Ferrallisol

Abstract

ABSTRACT Tomato (Lycoperscon esculentum M) is an important vegetable crop to rural farmers in Uganda. Its productivity is highly limited by poor soil fertility. A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of foliar fertilizers on yield of tomato and to obtain a candidate foliar fertilizer to be released to farmers. 7 foliar fertilizers (Plantone, Oshozyme, Venishire, Sunguard, Moreking, Fruit king and Root king) were evaluated on an experiment established using a randomized complete block design. (RCBD). The control experiment involved use of no foliar fertilizer. Data was collected on fruit number and fruit weight for three weeks after three months. Data was then analyzed using R software. The results showed that there was a significant interaction (p>0.001) between yield of tomato and use of foliar fertilizers. Sunguard, Venishire HC and fruit king foliar fertilizers produced the highest number and weight of tomatoes and so, they should be made available to local tomato growers since they were confirmed experimentally to have a significant increase on yield of tomato unlike plantone, oshozyme, moreking and root king which produced less number and weight of tomatoes as compared to the control.