THE EFFECT OF BIO-FERTILIZERS AND AMINO ACIDS ON TOMATO PRODUCTION AND WATER PRODUCTIVITY UNDER NET-HOUSE CONDITIONS

The present  study was carried out during two successive seasons, 2011/2012 and 2012/2013, at the Agricultural Research Station; El-Otouria, Sheehaniya, Doha, Qatar; to investigate the response of  two tomato cultivars (Isabella and Milas) to biofertilizers and amino acids. Two biofertilizer treatments, rizobacterien at a rate of 2 and 4 liter per feddan and one of amino acid (Delfan) at a rate of 200 ppm, were used. Chicken manure, at a rate of 10 tons/ feddan, was the control treatment. Results showed the superiority of Isabella compared to Milas in terms of vegetative growth and fruit yield. Using Rizobacterien at a rate of 4 liter/feddan plus Delfan (amino acids) at a rate of 200 ppm  increased growth and fruit chemical characters, earliness and total yield. The average fruit weight per plant was significantly high under Rizobacteria at a rate of 4 liter/feddan plus Delfan (amino acids) at a rate of 200 ppm. The lowest vegetative growth, fruit and yield characters were obtained from Rizobacteria at a rate of 2 liter/feddan. The water productivity results showed that all treatments led to the increase of fruit yield. Isabella cultivar had higher water productivity than Milas cultivar. Using of Rizobacterien at a rate of four liter/feddan also increased the water productivity. The same trend was obtained by using Delfan at a rate of 200 ppm. Concerning water productivity, Isabella cultivar had higher water productivity 16.7 and 17.2 kg of tomato fruits per cubic meter of irrigation water (m3) compared with Milas cultivar which produced15.9 and 16.5 kg tomato fruits per cubic meter of irrigation water for first and second seasons, respectively. Isabella cultivar plus amino acid (Delfan) gave the highest water productivity 19.1 and 19.7 kg of tomato fruits per m3 water for first and second seasons, respectively compared the other treatments.