INFLUENCE OF ORGANIC LEACHATES ON GROWTH AND YIELD OF BLACK CHERRY TOMATO

The experiment was performed at Horticulture Farm, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka, during the period from October 2015 to March 2016. Five treatments viz. only cowdung (CD) as basal dose (T₁), cowdung with BARI fertilizer dose (basal) + cowdung leachate as top dressing (T₂), cowdung with BARI fertilizer dose (basal) + Vermicompost leachate as top dressing (T₃), cowdung with BARI fertilizer dose (basal) + MOC leachate top dressing (T₄), cowdung with BARI fertilizer dose (basal) (T₅) were studied in this experiment. Treatments were arranged in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Significant variationswere observed at different growth and yield parameters with different treatments. Maximum fruit number (117.0/plant), fruit weight (9.8g), yield/plant (1.1 kg) and total yield (46.7 t/ha) were found from T₃ whereas minimum (108.0/plant, 8.50 g/fruit, 0.9 kg/plant and 38.2 t/ha respectively) from T₁ treatment. Overall, this study suggests that T₃ treatment acts as a potential source of plant nutrients for suitable black cherry tomato production.