%0 Journal Article
%T Effect of Plant Density on the Yield of Hydroponically Grown Heat-Tolerant Tomato under Summer Temperature Conditions
%A Alex Williams Ayarna
%A Satoru Tsukagoshi
%A George Oduro Nkansah
%A Kazuya Maeda
%J American Journal of Plant Sciences
%P 901-913
%@ 2158-2750
%D 2021
%I Scientific Research Publishing
%R 10.4236/ajps.2021.126060
%X Producing enough tomato to meet market demand
sustainably has not been feasible in the tropics like Ghana. Attempts to
improve production using gre</span><span style=\"font-family:Verdana;\">enhouse
facilities have not addressed the challenge because of high-</span><span style=\"font-family:Verdana;\">temperature
conditions in the greenhouse, which are difficult to manage. Heat stress,
arising from high temperatures, hinder the performance of tomato in terms of
fruit set and yield. Moreover, the impending climate change is expected to
impose more unfavorable environmental conditions on crop production</span><span style=\"font-family:Verdana;\">. An experiment was conducted in (greenhouse at
Chiba Un</span><span style=\"font-family:Verdana;\">iversity, Japan) summer period, which has similar
high-temperature conditions like Ghana. This work sought to increase the yield
of a hea</span><span style=\"font-family:Verdana;\">t-tolerant tomato using a
state-of-the-art hydroponic system thr</span><span style=\"font-family:Verdana;\">ough high-density planting. The
outcome of this work was intended for adoption and practice in Ghana. A
Heat-tolerant tomato ˇ°Nkansah HTˇ± along with Lebombo and Jaguar cultivars, were
grown at high and low plant densities (4.1 and 2.7 plants m</span><sup><span style=\"font-family:Verdana;\">-2</span></sup><span style=\"font-family:Verdana;\"> respectively).</span></span><a name=\"_Hlk72355905\"></a><span style=\"font-family:&quot;\"> </span><span style=\"font-family:&quot;\"><span style=\"font-family:Verdana;\">Each
plant was grown in a low substrate volume culture (0.5 L plant</span><sup><span style=\"font-family:Verdana;\">-1</span></sup><span style=\"font-family:Verdana;\">) </span><a name=\"_Hlk72267699\"></a><span style=\"font-family:Verdana;\">in a recirculating nutrient film technique (NFT)
hydroponic system</span></span><span style=\"font-family:&quot;\"><span style=\"font-family:Verdana;\">. Parameters measured were plant growth and dry
matter assimilation at 12 week</span><span style=\"font-family:Verdana;\">s after
transplanting, and the generative components. Results sh</span><span style=\"font-family:Verdana;\">owed that a high
plant density increased plant height but reduced chlorophyll content by</span><span style=\"font-family:Verdana;\"> 9.6%. </span></span><span style=\"font-family:Verdana;\">Under temperature stress conditions, the three
cultivars reco</span><span style=\"font-family:Verdana;\">rded more than 95% fruit
set, but plant density did not affect the fruit set and the incidence of
blossom end rot
%K Heat-Tolerant
%K Heat Stress
%K Hydroponics
%K Plant Density
%K Tomato
%K Yield
%U http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=109809