2024, Vol. 7, Issue 4, Part D

author(s)
AK Dutta, S Kiran and R Das

abstract
Tomatoes are growing extensively in the eastern Indian plateau, especially in the Chhota Nagpur region. However, most of the commercial growers in the region are using different agrochemicals for growing the crop, and consequently, the nutritional value of the crop is deteriorating day by day due mainly to residual toxicity, causing severe health hazards. Besides, water is the limiting factor in the region for increasing productivity, and several climatic abnormalities lead to a reduction in crop yield. Research findings revealed that low-cost farming practices, especially organic farming, perform well in adverse growing environments. Thereby, an initiative was taken to grow the crop by adopting alternative modes of farming practices. In this context, ten tomato cultivars (five OP varieties and five determinate F₁ hybrids) were exposed to grow under four non-chemical growing conditions, namely, Vedic Farming (T₁), Biodynamic Farming (T₂), Minimum Budget Farming (T₃), and Zero Budget Farming (by default organic) (T₄). Ten cultivars of tomato, viz. V₁: Swarna Lalima; V₂: Pusa Ruby; V₃: PKM-1; V₄: S-22; V₅: Patharkutchi; V₆: Swarna Baibhav; V₇: Swarna Deepti; V₈: Swarna Sampada; V₉: Swarna Vijaya; and V₁₀: Arka Rakshak, were grown separately through four non-chemical approaches in the organic experimental farm of the university during the autumn-winter seasons of 2021-22 and 2022-23. The experiment was conducted in 120 plots each of 6.0 m² size [10 cultivars with their replications thrice (in 30 plots) and four non-chemical growing approaches (30x4=120 plots)] by adopting a randomized complete block design. Different growth, yield, and quality attributes of the crop were taken into account for the study, and the results were found to be significant in almost all cases, especially in yield, TSS, ascorbic acid, lycopene, and β-carotene content in different tomato cultivars under diverse growing conditions. Findings of the experiment revealed that Vedic Farming (T₁) is the most effective in terms of expressions of growth and yield traits, while Biodynamic Farming (T₂) is a better alternative for qualitative trait expressions in tomatoes. Thus, different approaches to non-chemical growing conditions may be recommended as suitable alternatives to growing tomatoes even on a commercial scale in the eastern Indian plateau.