Abstract
A comparative study of coir pith and cowdung was carried out at Regional Agricultural Research Station, BARI, Jessore in 2008 to show the performance of coir pith on growth and yield of summer tomato compared to cowdung. Five treatment combinations viz. T1, 10 t/ha coir pith; T2, 20 t/ha coir pith; T3, 10 t/ha cowdung; T4, 20 t/ha cowdung; and T5, control were included in the study. Growth and yield of summer tomato was significantly influenced by the treatments. Maximum number of fruits per plant (30) was obtained from T2 treatment which was higher than T3 treatment (27 and). Similarly the highest single fruit weight (57 g) was measured in T2 treatment which was higher than T3 treatment (54 g). The highest marketable yield (32.59 t/ha) was recorded from the treatment T1 which was statistically similar to T3 treatment (32.14 t/ha) and the lowest marketable yield (13.31 t/ha) was recorded from control. Threfore, coir pith @ 10 t/ha with chemical fertilizer is suitable for profitable summer tomato production at Jessore region in Bangladesh.
