Tomato experiment

Tomato-F1 ‘Waad Rijk Zwaan’- Experiment in Wetar, MBD – November 2012

Waad Rijk Zwaan kindly made available four cultivars/lines (refer table below) for testing purposes on Wetar Island in Maluku Barat Daya. Farmer growers and the commercial kitchen who were the main buyers of tomatoes are very happy with these new cultivars, as this very brief report shows.

The climate is characterized by a prolonged wet season followed by an increasingly hot dry season. The tomatoes were grown during the hot dry season and irrigated by hand in small farmer plots. There were 17 farming families involved – six from Lurang village, six from Kampung Baru and five from Uhak village. Plants were sown in May 2012 and harvested during August, September and October.

Yields are provided below, by cultivar and totaled over all farmers.

Yields of farmer plots over the growing season (kg/plot)

Cultivar	Leon RZ 73-515 RZ	Waad RZ (74-324 RZ)	Logure RZ (73-571 RZ)	74-692 RZ	Beefsteak as Control
Yield over season/plot (kg)	24.8	25.5	21.8	19.7	10.7
No of plants	25	27	30	26	17

Note the very low yield of Beefsteak is at least in part due to the reduced number of plants

Take home messages?

1. Yields were doubled or better by using these improved cultivars- when compared with an old standard – Beefsteak. Farmers were very positive about the quality of plants and tomatoes produced. They want to grow these improved cultivars again.
2. Yields on a per plant basis appear to be very low. However, all those involved felt the yields of the Java plants were very high. There may well be issues with the data – particularly relating to number of plants on which the yields are based. ComDev team have a serious challenge to improve experimental management[1]. Yields may be underestimated by family consumption and theft.
3. Seedling management by farmers must be improved to ensure expensive seeds become profitable plants.
4. Farmers varied greatly in their ability to grow high yielding tomatoes.
5. The Community Development team on Wetar Island express our sincere thanks for the seed lines and look forward to further involvement in testing and growing for sale.
6. ComDev Wetar have much work to do, to improve the overall capacity of farmers to produce high yields of quality tomatoes from each plant.

Growth and management

Chicken manure was the primary fertiliser.  Leaf miner and mealy bug (kutu putih) were the main insect pests.

Plants were pruned normally to about 3-4 branches.

Harvest and Post-harvest

Farmer yields were extremely variable as shown below. There is plenty other farmers can learn from Natan Tonubadu in Uhak.

Table #2 Total Harvest of Waad Rijk Zwaan tomato in August-October 2012

No	Farmers and their villages	Harvest in Aug ’12	Harvest in Sept ‘12	Harvest in Oct ‘12	Total (Kg)
1	Umar Aleng – Kampung Baru	3 kg	3 kg	7.5 kg	13.5 kg
2	Anis Totty – Lurang	7 kg	7.5 kg	0.5 kg	15 kg
3	Anis Ruimasa – Lurang	0.5 kg	13.5 kg	1 kg	15 kg
4	Mince Rupilekloro – Lurang	1kg	9 kg	–	10 kg
5	Natan Tonubadu – Uhak	8 kg	14 kg	4.5 kg	26.5 kg
6	Ester Masnary – Uhak	3 kg	13.5 kg	2.5 kg	19 kg
7	Lis Mawetars – Uhak	1 kg	–	–	1 kg
8	Nela Mawetars – Uhak	1 kg	0.5 kg	1 kg	2.5 kg
	Total	24.5 kg	61 kg	17 kg	102.5 kg

The yields of tomatoes are sold fresh to BTR. Mostly, the yields are for daily consumption and given to their neighbours. Anis Toty and Natan Tonubadu also sell the yields to the community and all of them are sold.

Farmer comments

This tomato variety of Waad Rijk Zwaan becomes the most hot news among farmers, especially in Uhak and Lurang. This fruit is red when it’s ready to harvest, it is round, has a smooth skin and very interesting. Everyone will be interested, eat and devour soon after pick this fruit. There are some comments given from the owners and those who have eaten Waad Rijk Zwaan:

Natan Tonubadu

I love this tomato. It’s round and has a big shape. The skin is sleek and smooth. It tastes sweeter than another tomatoes. Many people want this fruit, even the head of Uhak village. There are also some persons who steal my tomatoes, then i have to put prohobitation or “sasi”. So that there is no more person who takes my tomatoes without my permission. I sell the fruit to BTR and the community and also for our family daily consumption.

Ester Masnary

This is the best tomato have I ever met. It is very sweet and my children like it very much. So, mostly they are for our daily consumption. In the future, I want to plant them more.

Nela Mawetars

Wow, it is very good tomato. In Uhak, there is only my tomato which can grow a lot in the nursery bed. Unfortunately, we are late to move them to the planting area, it is because I am sick and have to see the doctor in Kupang. If I can get these Waad Rijk Zwaan tomato seeds later, I will look after more seriously so that I can get more yields than I get now.

Anis Totty

My tomatoes are very big. Even I only have a few trees I can get a lot of yields. I sell them to BTR, and my wife usually sells them to the community in Lurang and all of them are always completely sold.

Rizal-Kitchen staff of BTR

This is the real tomato. It’s sweet and fresh. The farmers who grow this type of tomato are able to sell to BTR or we can pick directly from the farmers’ garden.

Greg Nafanu–Agriculture Supervisor of Comdev BTR

This variety has a resistance to the disease and insect that usually attack the plant. Based on the observation and direct documentation in the farmers garden, there is no rotten fruit at all and not attacked by fruitfly. The farmers are also happy because the appearance is smooth and sleek, i also love it because the taste is sweet and able to be eaten directly.