Articles
Effect of supplementary light on growth, yield and fruit quality of two tomato cultivars grown in high-tech glasshouse
Article number
1321_1
Pages
1 – 8
Language
English
Abstract
Two tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) cultivars Dafnis and Cluster were grown in a high-tech glasshouse at the National Research and Development Center for sustainable agriculture (ESTIDAMAH), Riyadh, Saudia Arabia during the 2017-2018 season to evaluate the effect of supplementary light on tomato growth, yield, fruit quality and water use efficiency.
Supplementary light was introduced by high-pressure sodium lamps (PAR, 210 µmol m‑2 s‑1) for 6 h (12:00-6:00 am). Results reveal that supplementary light significantly increased plant height of both Dafnis (13%) and Cluster (18%) in comparison to natural light.
However, number of leaves plant‑1 did not show significant differences between treatments.
Notably, the interaction between light and the two tomato cultivars did not differ in term of total yield.
On the other hand, total fruit number plant‑1 was significantly improved up to (63.4%) and (68.4%) under supplementary light for Dafnis and Cluster, respectively, while supplementary light significantly reduced average fruit weight by 41% in both cultivars.
According to the effect of treatments on fruit quality, results show that titratable acidity and total soluble solids were significantly enhanced by supplementary light application, while vitamin C did not differ.
Obviously, water use efficiency (kg m‑3) was significantly reduced (20%) while energy usage increased (54%) with supplementary light application.
In conclusion, supplementary light application under high-tech greenhouse showed favorable effects in terms of tomato growth, quality and water use efficiency, however, further work should be done to optimize plant fruit yield.
Supplementary light was introduced by high-pressure sodium lamps (PAR, 210 µmol m‑2 s‑1) for 6 h (12:00-6:00 am). Results reveal that supplementary light significantly increased plant height of both Dafnis (13%) and Cluster (18%) in comparison to natural light.
However, number of leaves plant‑1 did not show significant differences between treatments.
Notably, the interaction between light and the two tomato cultivars did not differ in term of total yield.
On the other hand, total fruit number plant‑1 was significantly improved up to (63.4%) and (68.4%) under supplementary light for Dafnis and Cluster, respectively, while supplementary light significantly reduced average fruit weight by 41% in both cultivars.
According to the effect of treatments on fruit quality, results show that titratable acidity and total soluble solids were significantly enhanced by supplementary light application, while vitamin C did not differ.
Obviously, water use efficiency (kg m‑3) was significantly reduced (20%) while energy usage increased (54%) with supplementary light application.
In conclusion, supplementary light application under high-tech greenhouse showed favorable effects in terms of tomato growth, quality and water use efficiency, however, further work should be done to optimize plant fruit yield.
Authors
A. Alharbi, O. Babiker, J. Campen, M.E. Abdelaziz, F. de Zwart, W. Voogt, K. Scheffers, I. Tsafaras, M. Qaryouti, K. Al-Assaf
Keywords
supplementary light, tomato, yield, quality, water use efficiency, photosynthetic active
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