Effects of Irrigation and Application of Phosphorus Fertilizer on the Yield and Water Use of Tomato Grown on a Clay Terrace Soil of Bangladesh

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted in the rabi （dry） season of 1998-99 on a clay terrace soil of Bangladesh to study the effects of irrigation and P fertilization on the yield, total water use, and water use efficiency of tomato. Five levels of irrigation and four levels of P application were involved. Irrigation, P application, and the interaction of irrigation and P application had a significant impact on the yield of tomato. In the individual effects of irrigation and P application, the yield was significantly high in the three and four irrigation and at the P level of 120 kg P_2O_5 ha^<-1>. As the interaction effect, the highest yield of 38.7 Mg ha^<-1> with the maximum net benefit was obtained under the combination of three irrigations at 15, 35, and 55 days after transplantation of seedlings and P application at the level of 120kg P_2O_5 ha^<-1>. Its total water use was 169 mm, giving the reasonably high water use efficiency of 229kg ha^<-1> mm^<-1>. The highest range of water use efficiency was noted in non-irrigation treatments, but the yield and net benefit were about half of those of the highest yield. The treatment with three irrigations along with P application at the level of 120 kg P_2O_5 ha^<-1> was concluded to be the best combination for the sustainable tomato cultivation in Shallow Red－Brown Terrace Soil of Bangladesh