Effect of planting distance on growth and yield of eggplant (Solanum melongena L.)

Eggplant or brinjal is a famous edible fruit in Asian countries. This edible fruit belongs to the family Solanaceae, one of the largest families in vegetables. It was reported that the origin of eggplant was from India due to the diversity of eggplants in the country (Kalloo, 1988). Other report says that eggplant originates from the African country Lester and Hasan, (1991). The fruit is rich in essential vitamins and minerals. It contains 89.0 g water, 1.4 g protein, 1.0 g fat, 8.0 g carbohydrate, 1.5 g celloluse, 130 mg calcium, 105 mg vitamin c and 1.6 mg Iron. In particular, eggplant is a good source of calcium, phosphorus and iron salts for bone and blood cell formation in the body, as well as a reasonable source of vitamin A (Carotene), Vitamin B-complex and vitamin C, all essential for good health (Romain,2001). Globally, vegetable production has grown intensively especially on a per capita basis, which has increased 60% over the last 20 years. This trend is particularly strong in developing countries. According to The Food and Agriculture Organization Corporate Statistical Database (FAOSTAT) (2014), total world eggplant production is 50.2 million tonnes where China and India are the major growing countries. Malaysian total production of eggplant is comparative low at 46,557 metric tons of 2,640 ha planted area (Anon, 2016). The Department of Statistics Malaysia (2015) reported that, Malaysian self-sufficient ratio (SSR) of eggplant is 101%, there are increase in import dependency ratio (IDR) of 12% in 2014 compared to the previous year. As a developing country, Malaysia needs continuous research intensively on vegetable crops including eggplant. (Copied from article)