Grow Tomatoes under Organic Management-Learn which method gives you the Best Return (A preliminary finding)

Comparative Study on the Cost Of Tomato Production Per Green House (20x5 m² equipped with drip irrigation) under different mulching conditions

(i) Operating Costs under Plastic Mulching

Activities	Unit	Quantity		Price/Unit	Total Price (Nu.)
A.Variable Costs:
(i) Labour Used
Nursery raising and management	Man days	4		250	1000
Bed preparation and manure application in greenhouse	Man days	3		250	750
Transplanting	Man days	1		250	250
Mulching	Man days	1		250	250
Irrigation	Man days	2		250	500
Weeding	Man days	0.5		250	125
Nutrient or EM application	Man days	0.75		250	187.5
Staking	Man days	1		250	250
Pruning	Man days	5		250	1250
Hoeing	Man days	0.75		250	187.5
Harvesting	Man days	3		250	750
(ii) Material Cost				250
Tomato Seed (Cosmic hybrid)	Gram	10		250/10g	250
Plastic Mulch	Meter	25x3		7.41	555.75
Vermi-compost	kg	40		22	880
FYM	kg	100		2.5	250
Jute rope for Staking	kg	84		2	168
Total operating cost					7603.75
Total yield					642kg
Total income considering market rate of Nu.60/kg					Nu.38,520
Net profit=Total income-Total operating cost			Nu. 30,916.25
Cost of production per kg of tomato= Total cost/total yield			Nu.12/kg

(ii) Operating Costs under Artimisia Leaf Mulching

Activities	Unit	Quantity		Price/Unit	Total Price (Nu.)
A.Variable Costs:
(i) Labour Used
Nursery raising and management	Man days	4		250	1000
Bed preparation and manure application in greenhouse	Man days	3		250	750
Transplanting	Man days	1		250	250
Mulching	Man days	3		250	750
Irrigation	Man days	2		250	500
Weeding	Man days	2		250	500
Nutrient or EM application	Man days	0.75		250	187.5
Staking	Man days	1		250	250
Pruning	Man days	4.5		250	1125
Hoeing	Man days	2		250	500
Harvesting	Man days	2.8		250	700
(ii) Material Cost
Tomato Seed (Cosmic hybrid)	Gram	10		250/10g	250
Vermi-compost	Kg	40		22	880
FYM	Kg	100		2.5	250
Jute rope for Staking	Kg	84		2	168
Total operating cost					8060.5
Total yield					445.47kg
Total income considering market rate of Nu.60/kg					Nu.26,728
Net profit=Total income-Total operating cost			Nu. 18667.7
Cost of production per kg of tomato= Total cost/total yield			Nu.18/kg

 (ii) Operating Costs under No Mulch Condition 

Activities	Unit	Quantity	Price/Unit		Total Price (Nu.)
A.Variable Costs:
(i) Labour Used
Nursery raising and management	Man days	4	250		1000
Bed preparation and manure application in greenhouse	Man days	3	250		750
Transplanting	Man days	1	250		250
Irrigation	Man days	2	250		500
Weeding	Man days	6	250		1500
Nutrient or EM application	Man days	0.75	250		187.5
Staking	Man days	1	250		250
Pruning	Man days	4	250		1000
Hoeing	Man days	5	250		1250
Harvesting	Man days	2.5	250		625
(ii) Material Cost
Tomato Seed (Cosmic hybrid)	Gram	10	250/10g		250
Vermi-compost	Kg	40	22		880
FYM	Kg	20	2.5		50
Jute rope for staking	Kg	2	84		168
Total operating cost					8660.5
Total yield					381.81kg
Total income considering market rate of Nu.60/kg					Nu.22,908
Net profit=Total income-Total operating cost				Nu. 14,248
Cost of production per kg of tomato= Total cost/total yield				Nu.23/kg

 Some other detailed information on the different management operations of Tomato

Date of Sowing: 08.03.18

Date of transplanting: 08.05.18

Total crop duration (sowing-last harvest): 230  days (7-8 months)

Harvest dates:

1^st-   9.8.18 

2^nd- 17.8.18                                                                           

3^rd-   22.8.18                                    

4^th- 28.8.18                                      

5^th-  30.8.18 

6^th-   5.9.18

7^th- 12.9.18                                     

8^th- 27.9.18   

9^th- 6.10.18 

10^th- 12.10.18

11^th-25.10.18

Total harvest days: 78 days

Plot size: 22.4 m² each

Plant population: 71

Spacing: 60cm x 50cm between plant-plant and row-row respectively.

Yield/plant: 3kg under Plastic mulched plot

                    2 kg under Artemisia leaf mulched plot

                    1.8 kg under no mulch plot

Summary

	Expenses (Nu.)	Production/yield (kg)	Cost of production/kg (Nu.)	Profit (Nu.)
Plastic mulch	7603.75	642	12	30916
Artemisia Mulch	8060.5	445.47	18	18668
No mulch	8660.5	381.81	23	14248

Images depicting Performance of tomato under different mulching conditions:

(a) Under Plastic mulching

          

(b) Under Artemisia Mulching

 


(c) Under No Mulch Condition (Control)

Conclusion:

According to the one season study carried out from March-October 2018, it is evident that the cultivation of tomatoes under plastic mulched condition outperformed the other two conditions.

Accordingly, the cost of production per kilogram of tomato was found to be the lowest in plastic mulched plots with the corresponding higher yields and the highest profit per unit area. On the contrary, the plot with no mulch resulted in the highest cost of production with the corresponding lower yield and lowest profit per unit area.

The highest yield in the plastic mulched plot could be attributed to the very minimal weed pressure and subsequently the vigorous and healthy growth of the plants and fruits. The reduced weed pressure also reduced the incidence of diseases and pests.

The intense weed pressure in the control(no mulch) plots hampered the growth of the plants by way of competing for nutrients and hence resulted in the lowest yield. It also demanded higher labour force, which led to the higher cost of production of tomato per unit area.

While the use of plastic mulch yielded excellent results, the residual impact of non-bio-degradable wastes on soil is a concern. Hence, mulching with locally available and eco-friendly mulch materials like Artimisia leaf may be encouraged on large scale.

Further research is needed to incorporate the fixed costs like the value of the land as well as the depreciation cost of fixed asset like greenhouse and irrigation sets. The trial needs to be replicated as both these parameters weren't taken into consideration in the first year of the trial.