Tree Fungus Reduces Fertilizer Requirement for Ketchup Tomatoes

Apr 01, 2021

Tomatoes are an important and popular crop, but the tasty ketchup, salsa and pasta sauce they yield comes at a price: overuse of chemical fertilizers. Now, researchers report in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry they have recruited a fungus to bolster fertilizer efficiency, meaning tastier tomatoes can be grown with less fertilizer.

Tomato plants have a long growth period and need more nutrients -- particularly nitrogen and phosphorus-- than many other crops. Supplying these nutrients through a chemical fertilizer is inefficient, because the nutrients can leach away, evaporate or get trapped in insoluble compounds in the soil, among other problems. Some farmers react by overusing fertilizers to boost tomato yield, but this results in poor fruit quality, fertilizer waste, soil deterioration and environmental pollution. Another option is to apply microbes that free nitrogen and phosphorus from the soil for the crop to absorb, though this technique generally hasn't performed well in farm fields. However, Jianguo Huang and colleagues previously succeeded in using a fungus to enhance nutrient uptake and growth in field-raised eggplants. In their latest study, they wanted to find out if the microbe could work with ketchup tomato crops.

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Video: Residue Management

Residue Management conservation practice manages the amount, orientation, and distribution of crop and other plant residue on the soil surface year-round while limiting soil-disturbing activities used to grow and harvest crops in systems where the field surface is tilled prior to planting. This video explores how Ryan McKenzie implemented this conservation practice on his farm in Samson, Alabama.

Practice benefits:

• Increases organic matter

• Improves air quality

• Decreases energy costs

• Reduces erosion

• Improves soil health

The Conservation at Work video series was created to increase producer awareness of common conservation practices and was filmed at various locations throughout the country. Because conservation plans are specific to the unique resource needs on each farm and also soil type, weather conditions, etc., these videos were designed to serve as a general guide to the benefits of soil and water conservation and landowners should contact their local USDA office for individual consultation.