TOMATO RESPONSE (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill) TO A CALCIUM AMENDMENT IN A SUCRE ACID FLOOR - COLOMBIAN CARIBBEAN COAST

Abstract

In order to contribute to food security and the motivation of small vegetable producers in the department of Sucre (Colombia), this trial was implemented under the premise that calcium in the soil contributes to plants with cell walls that are much more resistant to fungal attack and thereby decreases the onset of diseases. Based on the above, this trial was established in tomato culture, in which five (5) doses of calcium (0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 ton.ha-1) and three repetitions in a completely design were established random. A commercial product containing 37% CaO and 5.3% MgO was used as a source of calcium. The objective was to evaluate the effect of different doses of calcium on the yield components of the Chonto tomato crop in semi-controlled conditions in Sucre - Colombian Caribbean. The soil was acidic and low nutritional offer. A completely randomized design with three repetitions was used. The information was stored in Excel tables and processed with the statistical program SAS 9.0, analysis of variance and regression. It was found that doses 2 and 3 ton.ha-1 favored the growth of tomato plants, increasing fruit dimensions, fruit weight and yield and the models that explain these trends are linear.