ALTERATION OF YIELD AND QUALITY OF TOMATO FRUIT BY CONVENTIONAL AND ORGANIC CROP MANAGEMENT

In this research, the yield and qualitative parameters of tomato cultivar Hector F1 grown in various fertilization and plant protection treatments in two successive growth seasons were investigated. Estimation of fertilization and protection impact on the properties of tomato fruits was carried out using a two-factor ANOVA test, whilst correlation between individual parameters was conducted using a heatmap. Tomato yield was significantly lower in the control compared to the fertilized and chemically/biologically protected tomato, whilst significant differences in yield were not observed between the fertilized and protected treatments. The mean total soluble solids and fruit acids were most pronounced in the treatment with chemical fertilizers and biological protection, whilst the highest vitamin C content was observed in the control. The highest K and Cu content was observed in the organically fertilized and biologically protected tomato. A clustergram showed a positive correlation between the three groups of parameters: i). nitrates, vitamin C and total N; ii). fruit acids, total soluble solids and Cu; and iii). other parameters. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the combined effects of fertilizers and plant protection products on tomatoes grown in conventional and organic systems.