Utilization of Indigenous Mulches on the Growth and Yield of Different Tomato Varieties in Catarman, Camiguin, Philippines

Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) is one of the major commercial vegetable crops and is widely grown both in the highland and lowland areas in the Philippines. Many tomato growers face challenges in choosing the appropriate varieties and the cost of production. Mulching as one of the cultural practices can be employed to provide a favorable environment for improved growth performance. The present study was carried out to observe the effects of variety and indigenous mulch on the growth performance of tomato. The study was laid out in a 3 x 5 factorial experiment in a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications under field conditions at Tangaro, Catarman, Camiguin from October 2015 to February 2016. Three popular tomato (Factor A) varieties namely, Diamante Max F1, Improve Pope and Marimar F1 and four mulching materials (Factor B) viz. rice straw, cogon grass, napier grass, and saw dust with a control (no mulch) were experimentally evaluated to identify its potentiality on the growth performance of tomato. Results of the study showed that V1 (Diamante Max F1) produced the highest (4.28 t/ha) fruit yield, while V2 (Improve Pope) showed the lowest (0.8 t/ha) fruit yield. The mulching showed positive effect in some growth parameters, weeds incidence, and insect and disease infestation/infection. The combination of variety and mulch exhibited positive variation in some growth parameters, yield components, weeds incidence, and insect and disease infestation/infection. The combination V1M4 (Diamante Max F1 and Saw dust) produced the maximum yield (5.08 t/ha) and thus the experiment revealed that saw dust, napier grass and rice straw mulches have the potentiality to increase in yield of tomato. Potential of these varieties and the different mulches needed to be further tested for verification under different growing season to elicit substantial conclusions