2019 Volume 18 Issue 3 Pages 269-279
The present study focused on an open-field cultivation method for cherry tomatoes, based on summer to autumn harvest that uses nets to induce the plants and involves no lateral shoot pruning (referred to as the sauvage cultivation method). The yields and qualities of cherry tomato cultivated in fields in Kanagawa, Japan, located in a warm climate zone, and Iwate/Hiroshima, where summer to autumn harvest cherry tomatoes are widely cultivated, were assessed for 2 or 3 years. The economic efficiencies of the sauvage cultivation method were also assessed based on agricultural management indices. The yields per unit area and per plant with the sauvage cultivation method of cherry tomatoes were equal to or higher than the yields using the conventional method, in which all lateral shoots are removed. Regarding the fruit quality, the sugar content of cherry tomatoes cultivated using the sauvage cultivation method in the field in Iwate was similar or lower compared with the conventional method. Regarding the economic efficiency of the sauvage cultivation method, the profit per 10 a of cherry tomatoes grown using the sauvage cultivation method was 860,000–1,100,000 yen. The duration of working hours was 333–568 hours; therefore, the profit per hour was 1,933–2,661 yen.
