2025/07/18 by Kelemu Dessie Massrie, Biruk Masrie Zewdie
paper · doi:10.20372/nadre:9481
Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) is the most commonly cultivated vegetable crop in the world as well as in<br> Ethiopia. However, indeterminate tomato production is being limited due to the incidence of fruit rotting, pests, and<br> disease attacks. A field experiment was conducted at Mersa College of Agriculture Research site in the North Wollo<br> zone to evaluate the response of tomato varieties to different trellising methods in the 2018–2019 cropping season under<br> irrigation. Sirinka-1, Mersa, and Marglobe and four trellising methods (non-trellising, single pole, classic horizontal and<br> caging) were laid down in RCBD and replicated three times. Phenology, growth, and yield parameters were collected<br> using standard procedures and analyzed using GenStat software. Results revealed significant (P < 0.05) differences for<br> days to 50% flowering, days to 50% maturity, number of flowers per cluster, and number of fruit sets per cluster, while<br> their interaction was not significant. The lowest unmarketable yield (3.22tha− 1) was obtained from Sirinka-1 and Mersa<br> (3.73tha− 1) with cage trellising, followed by Mersa (4.44tha− 1) with classic horizontal trellising. The highest marketable<br> fruit yield was recorded from Marglobe grown using cage trellising, followed by the same variety with classic horizontal.<br> However, a higher marginal rate of return was found in the classic horizontal with Mersa variety, followed by the same<br> variety with a cage. The overall result indicated that growing of Mersa variety using classic horizontal trellising may be<br> a good option for tomato production in northeastern Ethiopia.