EFFECTS OF KITCHEN WASTE COMPOST ON GROWTH AND YIELD OF TOMATO

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted at the research field of Department of Crop Physiology and Ecology, Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University (HSTU), Dinajpur during December, 2022 to April, 2023 to find out the effect of kitchen waste based composts (KWC) on the performance of tomato cultivation. The experiment was laid out in a single factorial Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. The experiment was consisted of 6 treatments such as C1 = 100% Recommended Dose of Fertilizer (RDF)+10 t ha-1 of KWC, C2 = 100% RDF +7 t ha-1 of KWC, C3 = 100% RDF+5 t ha-1 of KWC, C4 = 80% RDF+10 t ha-1 of KWC, C5 = 80% RDF+7 t ha-1 of KWC and C6 = 80% RDF+5 t ha-1 of KWC. The tomato variety Bipul Plus was used as planting material. No significant variation was observed among all the compost treatments for number of days to 50% flowering and for number of days to 50% fruiting. KWC in combination with RDF had positive impact on plant height, number of leaf plant-1, number of branches plant-1, SPAD value, fruit length, fruit diameter, fruit plant-1 , single fruit weight, yield plant-1 and yield at harvest. At harvest, the highest fruit length (54.20mm) and fruit weight (66.09g) was found in C2 treatment; the highest fruit weight (66.09g) was found in C1 treatment, whereas the highest yield plant-1 (1.68kg), yield plot-1 (16.39kg), yield (81.97 t ha-1) was found in C3 treatment. Among the six treatments, C3 treatment (100% RDF+5 t KWC) is the most effective combination for enhancing tomato production.