Although tomatoes are available all year in Bangladesh, they are mainly a winter vegetable and are now grown commercially in many parts of the country. But tomato farmers struggle with several diseases and cannot bring home the harvest they expect, so they should take care against a number of diseases.

Diseases can badly reduce yields. In many cases farmers identify a disease but do not know how to get rid of it, and many have no scientific idea of which fertiliser or pesticide to use for which disease. As a result, even when yields are good, much of the fruit is of poor quality and does not fetch the right price.

The agriculture department has advised farmers on the main tomato diseases and their remedies, saying that with proper care these diseases can largely be eliminated.

The main tomato diseases are late blight, bacterial wilt, virus disease, fungal wilt, black spots on the back of the fruit, and damping off. Late blight is the most common.

Bacterial infection makes tomato plants wilt. An integrated approach is needed: follow crop rotation and use plenty of organic fertiliser. Apply 60 to 80 kg of neem cake per bigha, and grow dhaincha-type crops on land where the disease appears.

Virus disease, one of the main tomato diseases, is usually spread by whitefly, so the main remedy is to control the carrier flies. Mix 1 ml of the insecticide imidacloprid 17.8 per cent in seven and a half litres of water and spray. Control should start from the seedbed.

Fungal wilt appears when tomatoes are grown in sandy soil low in potash. Apply more potash and organic fertiliser, and good results come from mixing the beneficial fungus Trichoderma viride with organic fertiliser.

Black spots often appear on the back of the fruit even in improved varieties. This physiological disorder occurs in saline soil, soil that is too wet or too dry, and soil lacking calcium. Regular, controlled irrigation is needed.

Using CAN fertiliser as a top dressing and spraying two grams of lime per litre of water also gives good results.

Using the beneficial fungus Trichoderma viride with organic fertiliser in the seedbed or main field can eliminate damping off and seedling wilt. Treating seed also gives good results.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.