Biomass Partitioning, Yield, Nitrogen and Phosphorus Uptake of PGPR Inoculated Tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum L) Under Field Condition

A field trial was conducted to determine the response of 10 open-pollinated (OP) and hybrid tomato varieties to plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) inoculation under two levels of fertilization. Shoot dry matter yield increased with increasing rate of fertilization. However, varieties differed in their response to inoculation with PGPR. Half of the entries tested had positive response, while the other half had reduced shoot dry weight when inoculated with PGPR. Significant tomato variety-PGPR inoculation interaction on root dry weight was obtained. The increase in root dry weight due to inoculation also increased the root:shoot ratio of OP varieties, 'Northern Red' and 'Improved Apollo'. Higher root:shoot ratio was observed among tomatoes receiving half fertilizer rate due to higher root dry weight. In general, PGPR inoculation significantly increased the P concentration of the evaluated varieties from 0.20 to 0.21% P, with a 10% increase in P uptake among inoculated plants. Fertilization of tomatoes with the full recommended fertilizer dose increased yield by 28% relative to the harvest obtained from plants applied with half the recommended dose. The trial also showed that hybrids have higher yield than OP varieties. With PGPR inoculation, the total fruit yield of 'Rossana' and 'Atlas' varieties significantly increased by 27 and 19%, respectively.