Fresh market tomatoes for production on raised beds in New South Wales

Abstract

The aim of the experiments described in this paper was to identify determinate cultivars suited to production of fresh market tomatoes on raised beds in the inland irrigation areas of the south-west area of New South Wales from January to April. Cultivars that produce high yields of first-grade medium to large fruit, and are smooth, nearly round, firm and an even bright red when ripe are required. The plants should have good leaf coverage to prevent sunburn, and jointless pedicels to facilitate harvesting. The period of maturation of the fruit should be short to permit recovery of the crop with a maximum of 3 harvests. Ten lines including Sunny, a .reference cultivar with jointed pedicels, were evaluated at Richmond in the Sydney Greater Metropolitan Area and at Leeton in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, 1984-86. The lines were trickle-irrigated and mulched with black polyethylene film except at Leeton in 1985-86 when a trickle-irrigated, no mulch treatment and a furrow-irrigated treatment were included. The experiments showed that it is possible to produce yields of 50-100 t ha-1 of first-grade fruit with trickle irrigation. No significant advantage was obtained at Leeton in 1985-86 by using polyethylene mulch; however, the mulch largely eliminated the need for hand-chipping of weeds from among the plants. The visual quality of fruit grown at Leeton was excellent but total soluble solids levels were low, ripe fruit were unexpectedly soft, and sensory scores for flavour and general acceptability were only satisfactory. Overall, 2 cultivars that have jointless pedicels, Red Chief and Delta Contender, showed promise. A jointless hybrid line, HARU 83-148, which was bred at Richmond, warrants further evaluation. Some signs of incipient field chilling of fruit were observed at Leeton in fruit harvested after the first week in April.