Articles
TOMATO DISEASE PROBLEMS IN ARID KENYA
The main forms practiced are furrow and sprinkler irrigation.
Short term rotations with other horticultural or food crops are sometimes practiced but are limited by land availability.
The main disease problem under such conditions affecting tomato production is damage caused by the root-knot nematodes, Meloidogyne spp.
Bacterial wilt caused by Pseudomonas solanacearum, late blight caused by Phytophthora infestans and target spot caused by Alternaria solani also present significant constraints on tomato production.
Severity of these diseases depend on prevailing environmental conditions, type of irrigation system used, the pathogen strains and the tomato varieties grown.
The tomato strain of tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) causes considerable damage to tomato varieties ‘San Marzano’ and ‘Roma’. Blossom-end rot is a physiological disorder common in these areas causing considerable damage particularly on the tomato variety ‘San Marzano’.
Recommended control measures include use of chemicals, crops rotations and other cultural practices.
However, use of these methods by small scale growers in arid areas is greatly hampered due to high cost of using chemicals control and diminishing size of land holdings.
Introduction and use of diseaseresistant cultivars coupled with rational disease management practices might probably be instrumental in alleviating disease constraints in production of tomatoes in Kenya.