Abstract
The new cultivation method, which is referred to as the non-training culture with net (popular name: sauvage) method for the open-field cultivation of summer-autumn-harvest cherry tomato, is becoming popular across Japan, no studies have been conducted to compare the workability between the sauvage and traditional cultivation methods. The present study compared sauvage and traditional cultivation methods, focusing on the time required to perform each task, postures assumed to perform them, and yields, to establish the sauvage cultivation system. In sauvage cultivation, the time required to perform each task (training and chemical spraying in particular) was significantly shorter than in traditional cultivation methods, except for the time for harvest. However, the time required for the harvesting of cherry tomatoes in sauvage cultivation method accounted for 90% of the total time for all cultivation processes and the percentage was drastically higher than that of traditional cultivation methods. The yield per unit area in sauvage cultivation, in which the planting density was lower, was similar to or larger than the yield in traditional cultivation methods, and the growers were able to ship their crops in August to September when the plants would have been exposed to high temperatures and solar radiation level. Sauvage cultivation can be expected, as a new method for the open-field cultivation of summer-autumn-harvest cherry tomatoes to promote labor-saving in relation to their cultivation management. To reduce the time required to perform each task, improving harvest procedures accounted for majority of total time for all cultivation processes was considered to be necessary.
