(Tomato Crop – Cultivation Guidelines)

🌦 Climate
• Moderate warm and dry weather is ideal.
• Extremely high or low temperatures harm the crop.
• Optimum temperature: 20°C–25°C.

🌱 Soil
• Medium to clay loam soil is suitable.
• Rich in organic matter and well-drained soils are best.
• Soil pH: 6.0–7.5.

🚜 Field Preparation
• 2–3 deep ploughings followed by harrowing.
• Keep the soil moist and finely pulverized.
• Prepare raised beds or ridges for better drainage.

🌾 Sowing Time
• Kharif: June–July
• Rabi: October–November
• Summer: January–February

📏 Spacing
• 60–75 cm between rows
• 45–60 cm between plants

💧 Irrigation
• First irrigation immediately after transplanting.
• Subsequent irrigations every 7–10 days.
• Maintain adequate moisture during flowering and fruiting stages.

🧪 Fertilizers
• FYM/Compost: 20–25 tons/ha.
• NPK: 100–120 kg N, 60 kg P₂O₅, 60 kg K₂O.
• Apply half N and full P & K at transplanting, and rest N in two splits.

🌿 Weed Management
• One hand weeding after 20–25 days of transplanting.
• Pendimethalin 1 kg a.i./ha as pre-emergence spray.

🦠 Major Diseases
• Late Blight → Spray Mancozeb 0.25% or Copper Oxychloride.
• Early Blight → Spray Chlorothalonil or Azoxystrobin + Difenoconazole.
• Leaf Curl Virus → Control whiteflies effectively.

🐛 Insect Pests
• Fruit Borer → Spray Spinosad 45% SC or Indoxacarb 14.5% SC.
• Whitefly → Spray Imidacloprid 17.8% SL.
• Aphid → Spray Dimethoate 30% EC.

🌾 Harvesting/Threshing
• Harvest when fruits start turning red.
• For market, pick semi-ripe (50–60% red) fruits.
• Dry up to 12% moisture before storage.

⚠️ Special Note:
The above practices are based on agricultural university recommendations and scientific methods. Yield depends on climate, soil, irrigation, pest, and disease management.