YIELD AND QUALITY OF TOMATO FRUIT UNDER WATER-TABLE MANAGEMENT

In a 2-year study (1993-94), tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill, 'Ne w Yorker') plants grown in a sandy loam soil in field lysimeters were subjected to four water table depth (WTD) treatments (0.3, 0.6, 0.8, a nd 1.0 m from the soil surface). In 1994, precipitation during the flo wering stage was far above average and apparently led to waterlogging in the shallowest WTD treatment, while in the drier year (1993), the d eepest WTD treatment suffered from drought stress. In general, over th e 2 years, the 0.6-m WTD showed the best yields and largest fruit, whi le the 1.0-m WTD showed the lowest yields and smallest fruit. However, the incidence of catfacing, cracking, and sunscald was generally high er in the 0.6 m WTD treatment and lower in the 1.0-m WTD treatment. Fu rthermore, fruit firmness was generally greatest for the two deeper WT D than for the shallower WTD, To strike a balance between yield and qu ality, a WTD of between 0.6- and 0.8-m is recommended for tomato produ ction on sandy loam soils.