Yield and Pest Performance of High-Temperature Tolerant Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) Lines for Year-Round Tomato Production in Bangladesh

The study was conducted at Olericulture Division, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Gazipur, Bangladesh during summer season of 2021 to see the performances of yield and yield-related components of twelve heat tolerant tomato hybrids. Significant variation was expressed for days to first harvest (101.0 - 108.0 days), while maximum number of fruits per plant was calculated in F1 2101 and F1 2201 (9.5), followed by F1 203, F1 2001, F1 2303, F1 2401 (9.0). The highest single fruit weight was estimated in F1 2501 (195.5 g), followed by F1 2101 (119.0 g), F1 2201 (113.8 g), while the range was 33.1 - 195.5 g. The range of fruit yield was 7.9 - 38.7 t/ha, while higher-yielding hybrids were viz., F1 203 (27.7 t/ha), F1 2101 (35.5 t/ha), F1 2201 (33.9 t/ha) and F1 2501 (28.7 t/ha). Maximum TSS was produced by F1 2501 (5.9%), followed by BARI Hybrid Tomato-8 (5.1%), F1 1101, F1 1903 (5.0%), with a range of 4.0% - 5.9%, while TYLCV infection and leaf sucking pest infestation varied from 0.0% - 10.0% and 3.3% - 16.7%, respectively. Thus, based on the performances of different yield and yield contributing traits, the hybrids, viz., F1 2101, F1 2201, F1 2501 may be selected to develop heat tolerant tomato hybrid varieties for the farmers of sub-tropical regions.

Effect of Maturity Indices on Growth and Quality of High Value Vegetables

The study took place at Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute’s Olericulture Division’s research farm from March 2021 to February 2022 (BARI). In a protected net house, we investigated the impact of five different types of vegetables on various maturation stages, including tomato, broccoli, sweet pepper, cucumber, and netted melon. Vegetables cultivated under protected conditions in a transparent poly-film net house can improve quality, maturity, fruit size, and yield. When fruits and vegetables are picked before they are fully mature, they may stay green for longer, but they may not ripen to a satisfactory color and flavor, resulting in a loss of consumer confidence. Furthermore, because fruit continues to grow until the harvest, immature fruit will be smaller than mature fruit, reducing harvest yield. We tried to determine the right maturation stages in order to avoid product loss during our investigation. The tomato was found to be an appropriate size (6.5 cm length and 6.2 cm diameter), weight (84 g), TSS (4.5 percent), pH (4.3), “turning red”, and “tasty” at the week 5 stage, while the broccoli was found to be an appropriate size (12.0 cm length and 13.0 cm diameter), weight (360 g), and “green” color at the week 5 stage. At the week 6 stage, the nettled melon was found to be of appropriate size (15.2 cm length and 14.5 cm diameter), weight (800 g), TSS (10.8 percent), pH (6.3), “net fully developed” on the fruit skin and “much tasty,” while cucumber was found to be of appropriate size (8.8 - 10.8 cm length and 2.2 - 2.9 cm diameter), weight (61 - 88 g), TSS (3.8 - 4.1 percent), pH (6.3), “less powdery”. As a result, establishing the optimal maturity of our research will benefit both consumers and growers.

Effect of Different Nethouses on the Incidence of Insect on Vegetable Crops

In this study, the effects of different types of nethouses viz., NH1, NH2, and NH3, were investigated at the research farm of the Olericulture Division, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) from Sep 2021 to Mar 2022 and compared to control (open field) in terms of the incidence of white fly, aphid, leaf miners, mites, and eggplant shoot and fruit borer (ESFB). This study included six vegetables 1) Tomato, 2) Eggplant, 3) Sweet pepper, 4) Broccoli, 5) Cucumber;6) Okra, as well as four nethouse treatments: 1) UV stabilized transparent polyethylene film with 60 mesh insect net along with green shade net (NH1);2) UV stabilized transparent polyethylene film with 60 mesh insect net (NH2);3) 60 mesh insect net (NH3);4) Open field infestation of white fly, aphid, leaf miners, mites, and ESFB was observed under open field conditions followed by NH1 conditions, while the lower infestation was observed in NH2 and NH3 for all vegetables. From the study, we found the use of stabilized transparent polyethylene film with a 60 mesh insect nethouse provided a negative effect on the presence of different types of notorious insects on vegetables. So, this type of protected nethouse will provide a new dimension to producing safe and quality vegetables in Bangladesh.