Growth and Yield of Organically Grown Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) Intercropped with Satsuma Oranges

Abstract

The study was conducted at the Pomology Project of Benguet State University, La Trinidad, Benguet from December 2015 to April 2016 to determine the growth and yield of organically grown tomato intercropped with Satsuma orange (based organic production system); to determine the best organic production system for growing tomato intercropped with Satsuma oranges, and to determine the economics of organically growing tomato intercropped with Satsuma oranges. Results of the study show that there were no significant differences observed on the number of days from flowering to fruit setting, number of days from fruit setting to harvesting stage, weight of non-marketable fruits, and number of harvests as affected by the different kinds and rates of organic fertilizers. The application of grower’s compost at a rate of 10 tons/ha enhanced earlier flowering. The application of siglat at a rate of 10 tons /ha enhanced earlier fruit formation and promoted the growth of taller plants at harvesting stage. Likewise, it promoted the production of higher weight of marketable fruits and total yield per plot. In terms of profitability, the highest return on investment was computed from the application of siglat with a rate of 10 tons per hectare with ROCE of 161.6.