Tomato crop is grown worldwide and is considered a mass consumer product. In Ecuador, tomato growers face two major issues: water scarcity and water mismanagement, which cause a reduction in the framers’ gross income and ecosystem services. This paper is aimed at finding an optimal irrigation scheduling in greenhouse tomato crop to achieve a balance among production, fruit quality and water use efficiency. Thus, two experiments were settled. In the first experiment, four water doses (80, 100, 120 and 140% ETc) and two irrigation frequencies (one and two irrigations per day) were compared. The second experiment evaluated the two best water doses of the first one (100 and 120% ETc) and four irrigation frequencies (one and two irrigations per day, one irrigation every two days, one irrigation every three days). Each experiment monitored the variables for tomato production (plant height, stem diameter, fruits per plant, yield) and tomato quality (pH, total soluble solids, titratable acidity). The study concluded that water doses affected more than irrigation frequency to fruit quality and production. The dose of 100% ETc, applied in one irrigation per day, is suggested to obtain a balance between production, fruit quality and water use efficiency.
<p>Evapotranspiration is a phenomenon highly involved for water infiltration and redistribution among the soil. It is also an important factor that determines the amount of water available for crops. In this article, evaporation data collected by an evaporimeter tank in a greenhouse at Imbabura province (north of Ecuador) are presented. Based on these experimental results, the validity of five evapotranspiration reference models that depends exclusively on temperature and solar radiation has been tested for this area. It was seen that, there is a good correlation (Pearson-coefficient around 80%) between the observed data and the prediction of these five models, being the Irmak model (2003) what suits better with the observed data for this region. At the end of the article, a new empirical model that was inferred by these experimental data is presented, with the goal to improve the evaporation prediction in this area of South-America.</p>
<p>In Ecuador, tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is a main crop which production has been increase in the latest decade. The crop is grown throughout the country, although it is in the Sierra region where locate the greenhouse production areas. Tomato manufacturers face the water scarcity problems and in addition, the small and medium producers have little knowledge regarding the amount of water they should apply to the crop, and how they should manage. Considering this framework, this study first is aimed at determining the optimal water doses for tomato crop cultivated under greenhouse conditions in the Sierra region and second, it is aimed at establishing the best irrigation frequency. The experimental study was carried out from June to December 2020, in a metallic greenhouse with plastic cover, located in the Natabuela&#8217;s parish which belong to the city of Antonio Ante in the Imbabura province. The variables studied were: &#160;two water doses (100% and 120% of the of the evapotraspiration, ET) and four irrigation frequencies (two irrigations and one irrigation a day, one irrigation every other day and one irrigation every two days). In total, eight treatments were evaluated in an 2 x 4 factorial design, under a completely random block distribution, with four repetitions. The results show that the 120% ET irrigation dose produces the highest plant vigor and total and commercial production, while the 100% ET irrigation dose presents a higher citric acid percentage and total soluble solids content. Likewise, both doses do not showed significant differences in their water use efficiency and pH. Therefore, if the increase in production is searching then, it would be advisable to apply the 120% ET dose, although if the search is for the production quality it would be better to apply 100% ET. Regarding the irrigation frequency, one or two irrigations a day produced higher plant vigor as well as higher production and water use efficiency. None of the irrigation frequencies studied had significant differences in plant height and fruit quality variables.</p><p>&#160;</p>
<p>Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.), grown under greenhouse in Ecuador, has a major weight in the farmers&#8217; income in regions with water scarcity. In the one hand, these areas show&#160; small water&#160; use efficiency &#160;caused by the non-technical criteria in the design of drip irrigation systems. On the other hand, farmers are unknown of the tomato water requirements, and do not know how to determine them. Moreover, they do not know how much water apply and the irrigation frequency depends on the availability of farmers&#8217; time. In addition, in most cases greenhouses are lacked of equipment to measure climatic conditions.</p><p>This study evaluates different irrigation strategies, and its efficiency in the use of water, in the cultivation of tomatoes under greenhouse. It considers also they effect on the production and organoleptic quality of the fruit (size, dry matter and number of fruits). The methodology, first estimates the tomato water needs which was developed through the measures taking with practical and affordable equipment for farmers in the area. Then, the optimal water depth for irrigation was estimated on a daily basis application. Likewise, two factors were evaluated: &#160;number of irrigations per day (one or two) and water depth (80%, 100%, 120% of crop evapotranspiration, and the one applied by local farmers). Thus, the combination of the two factors resulted in eight irrigation strategies which were implemented in irrigation plots following a randomized block design with four repetitions. The evaluation was accomplished in the four crop harvest over one year. The results helped to develop sustainable irrigation criteria for tomato crop under greenhouse in the area. These have improved water use efficiency, and maintained the production and quality of the fruits, which will&#160; be beneficial not only for the farmers&#8217; income but also in agriculture's resilience .</p>
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