Effect of four levels of water application on yield and quality of greenhouse tomatoes produced in spring-summer

A study was carried out to evaluate the effect of four levels of water application on the yield and quality of a tomato ( Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) cv. Presto produced in a greenhouse at the Panguilemo Experimental Station, of the University of Talca (35°23'S lat; 71° W long; 110 m.a.s.l.), during the period August 2000 and January 2001. The irrigation treatments were application of 60 (T1), 100 (T2) and 140% (T3) of the actual evapotranspiration (ETreal) and a control (T4) was the irrigation level that farmers traditionally apply in the region. The results indicated that the largest total yield (180 t ha-1) was obtained by treatment T3, followed by treatment T4. The largest commercial yields were observed in treatments T3 and T4, which corresponded to 129.8 and 120.3 t ha-1 , respectively. The diameter and weight of fruit were reduced as the water application decreased, but soluble solids and dry matter increased. The treatment T3 was the best combination of yield and quality of greenhouse tomatoes with a 72% reduction of water application in comparison with T4