EFFECT OF GREEN LEAF BIOMASS OF AGROFORESTRY TREE SPECIES ON TOMATO (Solanum lycopersicum L.) CULTIVATION

Abstract

The status of soil organic matter in Bangladesh is extremely low. To improve the amount of soil organic matter, it is required to explore the best organic amendment for better crop production. Thus, a field experiment was conducted in the Agroforestry Field Laboratory, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka during the period from May to October 2020 to find out the response of different leaf biomass application on growth and yield of tomato cv. BARI Hybrid tomato 8. Ten experimental treatments such as T 1 -Control, Recommended dose of fertilizer (RFD), T 2 = ½ RFD, T 3 = Moringa leaf biomass at 10 g/kg soil, T 4 = Moringa leaf biomass 10 g/kg soil + ½ RFD, T 5 = Moringa leaf biomass 5 g/kg soil, T 6 = Moringa leaf biomass 5 g/kg soil + ½ RFD, T 7 = Ipil-ipil leaf biomass 10 g/kg soil, T 8 = Ipil-ipil leaf biomass 10 g/kg soil + ½ RFD, T 9 = Ipil-ipil leaf biomass 5 g/kg soil, T 10 = Ipil-ipil leaf biomass 5 g/kg soil + ½ RFD were imposed in this study. The experiment was conducted in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with three replications. Results showed that green leaf biomass together with ½ RFD substantially or slightly increased the growth and yield of tomato plant in contrast to ½ RFD and RFD treatment. The lowest growth and yield is obtained from the ½ RFD. The highest yield per plant (1.89 kg) was obtained from T 6 (Moringa leaf biomass 5 g/kg soil + ½ RFD) followed by T 8 (Ipil-ipil leaf biomass 10 g/kg soil + ½ RFD). Among the green leaf biomass treatment, moringa gave better results than the ipil-ipil. Therefore, this study suggests that the combined application of green leaf biomass of moringa or ipilipil with ½ RFD may be used in tomato cultivation.