Effect of  soil and foliar application of nutrients on growth and yield in  tomato
(Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.)

Kamal Narayan, P. Dubey, D. Sharma, Vijay T. Katre, S.P. Tiwari
and Anita Mishra1

 Department of Horticulture
Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur- 492006, India

E-mail : kamalnarayan37@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of foliar feeding of water- soluble fertilizers in combination with
soil-applied fertilizers on growth, yield and quality attributes in tomato cv. Pant T-3. The experiment was laid out
during 2009-10 in a randomized block design with four replications and six treatments. Water-soluble fertilizers
were sprayed along with different levels of soil-applied fertilizers. Results of the experiments revealed that among the
treatments, 87.5% recommended dose of NPK + foliar spray of water-soluble fertilizers recorded tallest plants,
higher number of primary and secondary branches, more fruits per cluster, fruits per plant, fruit weight, fruit
diameter, fruit pericarp thickness, highest fruit yield per plant and fruit-yield per hectare. However, early flowering
and fruiting were observed in the Control (100% recommended dose of fertilizer). Economically, 87.5% recommended
dose of NPK + foliar spray of water-soluble fertilizers was recorded highest net return of,  Rs.1,25,890.05 and
highest benefit:cost ratio of 2.73, in our trial.

Key words: Foliar nutrition, water-soluble fertilizers, tomato, yield

Short communication

Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) is one of
the popular and important vegetables grown in India.
Efficiency of fertilizers applied to soil is generally low due
to various losses and due to fixation. Foliar application of
nutrients eliminates the problems of fixation and
immobilization. Hence, foliar nutrition is recognized as an
important method of fertilization in modern agriculture.
Tomato is a crop highly responsive to foliar application of
nutrients especially, during the critical stages. Thus, foliar
application provides ample scope for utilization of nutrients
efficiently and for correcting nutrient   deficiencies rapidly.
A great difficulty in supplying  macro nutrients through foliage
is non-availability of suitable water-soluble fertilizers. Water-
soluble fertilizers are a better source of nutrients for foliar
application (Vibhute, 1998). Recently, new generation water-
soluble fertilizers exclusively for foliar feeding have been
introduced. These fertilizers have different ratios of N, P &
K and are highly water-soluble, hence, ideal for foliar nutrition
(Jeybal et al, 1998). Method of nutrient application plays an
important role in supplying nutrients to plants.

Traditional supply of nutrients to the tomato crop has
been through conventional fertilizers, i.e., urea, SSP, MOP,

1MATS University, Raipur (C.G.)

etc. However, with the changing scenario, water-soluble
fertilizers (WSF) are being used both for drip and foliar
application. With these factors in view, the present
investigation was undertaken in tomato to study the effect
of foliar feeding of water-soluble fertilizers, in combination
with soil-applied fertilizers, on growth, yield and quality
attributes tomato cv. Pant T-3.

The experiment was conducted at the Research-cum-
Instructional Farm, Department of Horticulture, Indira
Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur (C.G.), during rabi
season of 2009-10, to work out the optimum dose of soil-
applied fertilizers in combination with foliar spray of water-
soluble fertilizes. The experiment was laid out in a
randomized block design with six treatments in four
replications. Treatment schedule was as follows:

T
1

100% Recommended dose of fertilizers (100:80:60),
Control

T
2

100% Recommended dose of fertilizers + foliar spray
of WSF

T
3

87.5% Recommended dose of fertilizers + foliar spray
of WSF

J. Hortl. Sci.
Vol. 7(1):101-103, 2012



102

T
4

75% Recommended dose of fertilizers + foliar spray
of WSF

T
5

62.5% Recommended dose of fertilizers + foliar spray
of WSF

T
6

50% Recommended dose of fertilizers + foliar spray
of WSF

The experimental plots were 8.0m x 2.5m in size and
consisted of eight rows, with a spacing of 60cm in between
rows and 45cm between plants. The soil in the experimental
field was clay-loam in texture, with pH 7.1 (neutral), available
N 218 kg ha-1 (low), available P 17.2 kg ha-1 (medium),
available k 311 kg ha-1 (high) and organic matter content 0.5%.

Different factorial levels of recommended dose of
fertilizer were applied at the time of field preparation as a
basal dose. Water-soluble fertilizers (19:19:19, 13:0:45, and
0:52:34) were applied @ 2% (20 g L-1) at different stages
of growth, i.e., two sprays of 19:19:19 during the vegetative
stage, 0:52:34 during the flowering stage and two sprays of
13:0:45 during fruit-development stage.

Observations on growth and yield were recorded in
randomly selected plants. Total soluble solids were recorded
using a refractometer. Mean data were statistically analyzed
as per Panse and Sukhatme (1989) and benefit:cost ratio
was also calculated.

Data presented in Table I reveal that plant height in
tomato cv. Pant T-3 differed significantly between the
treatments. Maximum plant height (122.71cm), highest
number of primary branches (4.73) and secondary branches
(14.73) per plant was recorded in  the treatment with 87.5%
recommended dose of fertilizers + foliar spray of WSF.
Similar findings were reported by Prabhu (1998) and
Karpagam et al (2004) in hybrid brinjal. Higher levels of
nitrogen and phosphorus at the early stage may have
encouraged higher number of auxiliary buds to sprout and,

ultimately, resulted in higher number of primary and
secondary branches per plant. Similar results of better
branching with foliar application of nutrients were reported
by Chaurasia et al (2006).

Treatment with 87.5% recommended dose of
fertilizers + foliar spray of WSF also recorded delayed
flowering (64.45 days), 50% flowering (75.20 days) and
fruiting (69.02 days) (Table 1). However, earliest flowering
(50.60 Days), 50% flowering (58.16 days) and fruiting (54.81
days) was noted in the Control which may be due to
difference in levels of available nitrogen, as, the Control did
not receive foliar nitrogen. Similar findings were also reported
by Ahmad and Choudhary (1990) wherein application of N
delayed flowering in tomato.

Results in Table 2 reveal that number of  fruits per
cluster, fruits per plant, fruit weight, fruit diameter and fruit
pericarp thickness differed significantly between treatments.
Highest number of fruits per cluster (5.55) and fruits per
plant (69.52) was observed in the treatment with 87.5%
recommended dose of fertilizers + foliar spray of WSF. The
increase in number of fruits per cluster and number of fruits
per plant could be due to increased supply of nutrients at
critical growth stages, i.e., flowering and fruit-set (Naik et
al, 2002). Jeybal et al (1998) and Vibhute (1998) also
reported similar findings. Higher fruit weight (53.14g), fruit
diameter (5.30cm) and fruit pericarp thickness (5.02mm)
were observed in the same treatment too. These findings
are in conformity with results of Nanthakumar and
Veeraragavathatham (1999) and Narayanamma et al (2002).

Data pertaining to yield attributing characters given
in Table 2 reveal that highest fruit yield per plant (3.44kg),
per hectare (127.40t) and benefit:cost ratio (2.73) was
recorded in treatment T3, while lowest yield per plant
(1.97kg), per hectare (72.96t) and B:C ratio (1.59) was

Table 1. Effect of foliar feeding of water-soluble fertilizers on growth and flowering of tomato cv. Pant T-3

Treatment Plant Numbers Numbers Days to Days to 50% Days to1st

height of primary of secondary 1st flowering flowering fruiting
(cm)  branches branches

T1 - 100% RDF*       (Control) 75.22 2.81 9.51 50.60 58.16 54.81
T2 - 100% RDF + foliar   spray of WSF 116.33 3.76 14.03 59.95 68.79 65.58
T3 - 87.5% RDF +foliar spray of WSF 122.71 4.73 14.73 64.45 75.20 69.02
T4 - 75% RDF + foliar spray of WSF 104.67 4.13 13.19 56.20 67.09 62.01
T5 - 62.5%RDF + foliar spray of WSF 92.54 3.64 12.69 56.41 65.87 61.42
T6 - 50% RDF + foliar spray of WSF 87.01 3.40 11.84 51.56 58.71 55.89
SE(d)  + 7.28 0.38 1.28 4.10 5.33 0.58
CD  (P=0.05) 15.51 0.81 2.74 8.73 11.37 1.13

*Recommended Dose of Fertilizer

J. Hortl. Sci.
Vol. 7(1):101-103, 2012

Kamal Narayan et al



103

recorded in the Control. Similar response in tomato was
reported by Palaniappan et al (1999).

Among various treatments, treatment T
3
 (87.5%

recommended dose of fertilizer+foliar spray of water-soluble
fertilizers) recorded tallest plants, higher number of primary
and secondary branches, number of fruits per cluster, fruits
per plant, fruit weight, fruit diameter, fruit pericarp thickness,
fruit yield per plant, fruit yield per hectare and TSS content
of the fruit. However, time taken to first flowering, 50%
flowering and fruiting was less in control (100%
recommended dose of fertilizer). Thus, T

3
 (87.5%

recommended dose of fertilizer + foliar spray of water-
soluble fertilizer) was found to be highly beneficial for
maximizing the yield of tomato cv. Pant T-3, yielding a high
benefit:cost ratio.

REFERENCES

Ahmad, C.M.S. and Choudhry, M.A. 1990. Effect of nitrogen
on some yield parameters in tomato (Lycopersicon
esculentum Mill.) under Maidugari environmental
condition. Sharhad J.  Agri, 6:155-158

Chaurasia, S.N.S., Singh, K.P. and Mathura Rai. 2006.
Response of tomato to foliar application of water-
soluble fertilizers. Veg. Sci., 42:66-70

Jeybal, A., Murlidhar Rao, M. Palanippam, S.P. and Chelliah,
S. 1998. Technical Bulletin on specialty fertilizers.

Nagarjuna Agricultural Research and Development
Institute, Secunderabad, M/S Nagarjuna Fertilizer
Co. (Pvt.) Ltd. Hyderabad

Karpagam, R., Kannan, M., Natarajan, S. and Srinivasan,
K. 2004. Studies on the efficacy of foliar feeding
of water-soluble fertilizers on growth parameters and
yield of brinjal hybrid COBH-1. South Ind. Hort.,
52:139-142

Naik, L.B., Prabhakar, M. and Tiwari, R.B. 2002. Influence
of foliar sprays with water soluble fertilizers on yield
and quality of carrot (Daucus carota L.) Procs. Int,’l
Conf. Vegetables, Bangalore, p:183

Nanthakumar, S. and Veeraragavathatham, D. 1999. Effect
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42-48

Narayanamma, M., Sai Reddy, C.,-Chiranjeevi, C.H. and
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fertilizers on yield of brinjal. Veg. Sci., 33:94-95

Palanippan, S.P., Jeybal, A. and Chelliah, S. 1999. Response
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Panse, V.G. and Sukhame, P.V. 1989. Statistical methods
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Vibhute, C.P. 1998. A process for manufacturing complex
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Table 2. Effect of foliar feeding of water-soluble fertilizers on yield and quality in  tomato cv. Pant T-3

Treatment  No. of No. of Fruit Fruit Fruit Fruit Fruit TSS BC**
fruits fruits weight diameter pericarp yield per yield (%) ratio

per cluster per plant (g) (cm) thickness plant per
(mm) (kg) ha.(t)

T1 - 100% RDF* 3.44 46.45 36.51 3.58 3.53 1.97 72.96 0.65 1.59
(Control)
T2 - 100% RDF + 4.61 65.94 51.43 4.76 4.69 3.31 122.59 0.53 2.53
foliar spray of WSF
T3 - 87.5% RDF + 5.55 69.52 53.14 5.30 5.02 3.44 127.40 0.58 2.73
foliar spray of WSF
T4 - 75% RDF + 4.48 60.60 46.88 4.67 4.45 2.84 105.18 0.61 2.51
foliar spray of WSF
T5 - 62.5%RDF + 4.30 57.56 41.57 4.47 4.01 2.75 101.85 0.59 2.40
foliar spray of WSF
T6 - 50% RDF + 4.02 57.48 41.43 3.98 3.80 2.68 99.26 0.58 2.43
foliar spray of WSF
SE(d)  + 0.58 4.72 5.14 0.54 0.45 0.37 0.56 0.30
CD  (P=0.05) 1.23 10.07 10.96 1.15 0.97 0.79 1.20 0.64

*Recommended Dose of Fertilizer
**Benefit : Cost Ratio

(MS Received 6 January 2011, Revised 9 January 2012)

Effect of spacing on growth and yield in guava

J. Hortl. Sci.
Vol. 7(1):101-103, 2012