THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN ANTI-CRUSTING DEVICE FOR USE IN DIRECT SEEDED TOMATOES

There is in Portugal a tendency to equate mechanical harvest with the mechanization of the tomato crop, when the harvest, as the final operation, is necessarily selected upon all those which have been carried out previously.

Direct seeding, is now significantly cheaper than transplanting – this is the first practical advantage noticed by the farmer – and because it represents first step in the complete mechanization of this crop, should be the first step to be put into practice in our country.

Whilst the harvest continues to be by hand, we should be aware that varieties suitable for mechanical harvest are now widely accepted and grown, we should therefore pay particular attention to problems such as, plant population, fertilization, weed control and irrigation, in order to guarantee, that these varieties full potential is realised.

Symposium on Production of Tomatoes for Processing

V.M.B. Dias

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1980.100.19