Increasing Air Temperatures and Its Effects on Growth and Productivity of Tomato in South Florida

Abstract

Florida ranks first among US states in fresh-market tomato production with annual production exceeding one-third of the total annual production in the country. Although tomato is a signature crop in Florida, current and future ambient temperatures could impose a major production challenge, especially during the fall growing season. This problem is increasingly becoming an important concern among tomato growers in south Florida, but studies addressing these concerns have not been conducted until now. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the impacts of the present ambient temperature conditions and planting dates on tomato productivity in south Florida. The study was conducted using crop simulation model CROPGRO-Tomato of DSSAT (Decision Support System for Agricultural Transfer) version 4.7. Five treatments were evaluated, and included AT (simulated treatment using 14 years of actual daily weather conditions at the study location) while other treatments were conducted based on a percentage (−20%, −10%, +10%, +20%) of AT to simulate cooler and warmer temperature regimes. The results suggested that under the current temperature conditions during the fall growing season in south Florida, average tomato yield was up to 29% lower compared to the cooler temperature regimes. Tomato yield further decreased by 52% to 85% at air temperatures above the current condition. Yield reduction under high temperature was primarily due to lower fruit production. Contrary to yield, both tomato biomass accumulation and leaf area index increased with increase in temperature. Results also indicated that due to changes in air temperature pattern, tomato yield increased as planting date increased from July to December. Therefore, planting date modification during the fall season from the current July–September to dates between November and December will reduce the impacts of heat stress and increase tomato productivity in south Florida.

The ability of CROPGRO-Tomato model to simulate the growth characteristics of Thomas F1 tomato cultivar grown under open field conditions

“…For the first time in the Czech Republic, the genetic coefficient for this specific variety of tomato, different parameters like anthesis date, crop maturity date, harvest yield, total biomass weight, maximum LAI were incorporated into the DSSAT crop model. In a recent study, Ayankojo and Morgan (2020) also observed similar ranges of FL-SH, EM-FL and FL-SD in cultivar file for Florida 47 cultivar of tomato. This finding was consistent with Scholberg et al .…”

Growing Tomato under Protected Cultivation Conditions: Overall Effects on Productivity, Nutritional Yield, and Pest Incidences

“…In terms of yield, no significant differences were observed among the treatments, which could be caused in part for the differences in climatic conditions recorded under the different treatments, as protected cultivation regardless of the net color showed much higher temperatures and much lower relative humidity percentage compared to open field conditions. Previous studies have shown how an increase in temperatures could result in heat stress for tomato, evidenced as detrimental effects on fertility rate, flower drop, reduced fruit setting and in consequence reduce fruit production and lower yields [26][27][28]. Therefore, and although plants under colored shade conditions yielded taller plants, with larger leaves, the higher temperature recorded under this light condition may prevent the plants from achieving their full potential yield compared to conventional and open field conditions.…”

Assessment of Farmers Perception about Climate Change Impact and Adaptation Strategies Use for Tomato Production in The Gambia

“…Furthermore, Johkan et al,(2011) also depicted that during the time of flowering, higher temperature results in abscission of flowers, very poor flowering and low fruit quality, pollen sterility and low color development in tomato. It was also observed that an increase of coldness or hotness in the South Florida has lower fruit numbers and yield of tomatoes, with little pollen viability and fruit set and the continuous rise in temperature could further reduce the productivity (Ayankojo and Morgan, 2020). The increase of rainfall and high relative humidity are also destructive to tomato plants, as the proliferation of leaf diseases is higher during the period of humid conditions (Kalibbala, 2011).…”