Agricultural and Biological Research

Enhancing tomato wilt resistance through organic soil amendments: A comprehensive study on the impact of various treatments

Sarita, Sunita Bhandari* and Shweta Singh

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) holds considerable significance in Indian cuisine but its production faces challenges from various biotic stressors, with Fusarium wilt being a major concern. This study assesses the efficacy of diverse soil amendments (Karaj oil cake, Linseed cake, Bone meal, Horne meal, Vermicompost, Poultry manure, Blood meal and Mustard cake) in combating Fusarium wilt in tomato plants. Ten distinct treatments were administered to analyze their impact on multiple growth parameters, including shoot length, root length, seedling length, fresh shoot weight, fresh root weight, fresh seedling weight, and wilt intensity. The findings revealed notable enhancements in growth parameters among treated plants compared to the control. Treatments T₅ (Fusarium oxysporum+Vermicompost) and T₆ (Fusarium oxysporum+Poultry manure) demonstrated the highest percent control, with values of 56.5% and 56.2%, respectively. Promisingly, treatments involving and demonstrated higher control percentages, offering potential sustainable and ecofriendly solutions for managing Fusarium wilt of tomato crops.