Articles
Eco-friendly tomatoes: saving water and nutrient resources?
Article number
1297_37
Pages
273 – 280
Language
English
Abstract
Nutrient and water availability as well as sustainable use of resources are of high importance for modern horticulture aiming toward optimal and sustainable food production, particularly in arid and nutrient-poor areas.
This also applies to the production of tomato, one of the world’s most favored fruit crops, for which water and nutrient availability will be restricted due to climate change effects and increasing intensification of agricultural production.
In the EU funded project TOMRES (www.tomres.eu
), 25 partners from 10 countries work together on the optimization of tomato plants coping well with reduced nitrogen, phosphorus and water availability to ensure sustainable resource utilization at minimal yield and fruit quality loss.
A collection of tomato lines is being screened to select most promising genotypes for more detailed analyses.
Plant performance is being evaluated both under optimal and stress conditions, from the beginning of active vegetative growth to flowering and fruit production, also considering shoot to root zone interactions.
Management strategies and decision-making tools will be established to support farmers, inform customers and demonstrate innovative scientific approaches in horticultural research.
In the context of our work package, we screened tomato genotypes at the vegetative stage of growth to identify effects of 50% reduced nitrogen, phosphorus and water supply on plant metabolism as well as on biomass accumulation.
We found that first effects due to stress application were assessable by thermal detection, showing higher leaf canopy temperature in stressed and less well performing plants.
Differences in composition of constituents were detected at later developmental stages by evaluation of hyperspectral leaf reflectance.
Overall, the selection of promising genotypes as well as more resource-efficient management strategies can effectively contribute to improve sustainability of modern production processes.
This also applies to the production of tomato, one of the world’s most favored fruit crops, for which water and nutrient availability will be restricted due to climate change effects and increasing intensification of agricultural production.
In the EU funded project TOMRES (www.tomres.eu
), 25 partners from 10 countries work together on the optimization of tomato plants coping well with reduced nitrogen, phosphorus and water availability to ensure sustainable resource utilization at minimal yield and fruit quality loss.
A collection of tomato lines is being screened to select most promising genotypes for more detailed analyses.
Plant performance is being evaluated both under optimal and stress conditions, from the beginning of active vegetative growth to flowering and fruit production, also considering shoot to root zone interactions.
Management strategies and decision-making tools will be established to support farmers, inform customers and demonstrate innovative scientific approaches in horticultural research.
In the context of our work package, we screened tomato genotypes at the vegetative stage of growth to identify effects of 50% reduced nitrogen, phosphorus and water supply on plant metabolism as well as on biomass accumulation.
We found that first effects due to stress application were assessable by thermal detection, showing higher leaf canopy temperature in stressed and less well performing plants.
Differences in composition of constituents were detected at later developmental stages by evaluation of hyperspectral leaf reflectance.
Overall, the selection of promising genotypes as well as more resource-efficient management strategies can effectively contribute to improve sustainability of modern production processes.
Authors
J. Ellenberger, S. Schmittgen, H. Jaenicke, G. Noga
Keywords
Solanum lycopersicum, abiotic stress, sustainable horticulture, resource-saving, thermography, spectroscopy
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