LEVEL AND SPLIT APPLICATION OF NITROGEN F OR PROCESSING TOMATO PLANTED DIRECTLY IN THE MIDDLE SAO-FRANCISCO RIVER VALLEY

This work was carried out in Petrolina (Pernambuco State) and Juazeiro (Bahia State), from 1992 to 1994. The objective was to evaluate the e ffect of levels and the split application of nitrogen on processing to mato crop (Lycopersicon esculentum) under irrigation conditions. The l evels of nitrogen varied from 0 to 200 kg/ha. The spliting were as fol low: a) the total nitrogen applied at planting time; b) 1/3 applied at planting time and 2/3, at twenty-five days after planting time; c) 1/ 3 applied at planting time, 1/3 applied at twenty-five days and 1/3, a t fifty days after planting time; d) 1/2 applied at twenty-five days a nd 1/2, at fifty days after planting. The best economical levels of ni trogen were 97, 169 and 184 kg/ha of N, which gave produtivities of 30 ,054; 53,299; and 63,750 kg/ha of tomato, respectively. The treatment c) was the most efficient in increasing the yield of tomato crop.