Multan: The Punjab Agriculture Department has advised farmers to start cultivation of tomato nurseries from October to mid-November, using fertile, well-drained loamy soil for healthy plant growth.
According to Directorate General of Agricultural Information Punjab, around 50 grams of seed with an germination rate of over 80 percent is sufficient to raise nursery plants for one acre. The quantity can produce a nursery over approximately four marlas of land.
Farmers have been advised to use plastic nursery trays filled with compost and a mixture of well-rotted farmyard manure and soil or sand in a 1: 3 ratio. During the autumn crop, nursery plants should preferably be raised in compost-filled trays to protect them from heat and reduce transplanting shock.
The department recommended growing autumn tomato nurseries under green netting and covering tunnels with fine mesh to protect plants from heat and sucking pests, including whitefly. Recommended pesticides should be applied only on the advice of local agriculture experts.
For conventional nursery raising, farmers should prepare small, level beds of about one square metre, raised around 15 centimetres above ground level to ensure proper drainage. Seeds should be sown in rows at a depth of 1-2 centimetres, with a row-to-row distance of 7-8 centimetres.
The beds should initially be covered with straw or reed mats to retain moisture until germination. Light irrigation through a sprinkler is recommended initially, while the interval between irrigations can gradually be increased as plants develop.
Once germination is complete and the seedlings develop their first true leaf, thinning should be carried out to maintain a spacing of 4-5 centimetres between plants. The department said thinning helps produce stronger stems.
When seedlings develop two leaves, Nitrophos solution at 0.1 percent, equivalent to one gram per litre of water, should be applied with irrigation water. Seedlings should ideally be transplanted when they reach a height of 6-9 inches.
The department also highlighted the year-round demand for tomatoes, which are used in cooking, salads and processed products including ketchup, pulp, puree, juice and paste, and encouraged kitchen gardening and appropriate preservation practices to manage shortages.