Studies on the Influence of Rubber Effluent and NPK Application on the Performance and Fruit Quality of Snake Tomato (Trichosanthes cucumerina L. Haines) in Newly Established Rubber Plantation

Abstract

Rubber (latex) production suffered serious drawback in the mid-1970s to late 1990s due to the withdrawal of small holder rubber growers arisen from low pricing and other agronomic challenges. A field study was carried out in 2018 and 2019 cropping season to evaluate the influence of rubber effluent and NPK fertilizer on the performance and fruit quality of snake tomato in a newly established rubber plantation in Iyanomo. The treatments involved sole snake tomato, sole rubber and their intercropped combinations with NPK (applied at 60 kg N ha^-1) and rubber effluent application rates (0, 50, 60 and 70 kg N ha^-1) laid out in a randomized complete block design replicated three times. Data were collected on vine length, vine girth, number of leaves, leaf area, fruit yield components, nutrient content and uptake. Results showed that NPK and rubber effluent significantly (P<0.05) affected growth characters and fruit yield of snake tomato positively. The fertilized plants were higher in all the characters accessed than the unfertilized plants. Sole and intercropped snake tomato fruit yield with or without treatments had similar values. Unfertilized sole and intercropped snake tomato had the lowest fruit yield. The highest fruit yield were obtained from sole and intercropped snake tomato treated with NPK (STNPK and RSNPK). The number of rotten fruits were more in the unfertilized plants compared to the fertilized plants. Nutrient content and uptake were positively influenced by soil amendments.

Keywords:  Growth, fruit yield components, intercrop, NPK and rubber effluent.