Influence of Foliar‐Applied Calcium Concentrations on Growth, Yield, and Quality of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) Varieties in Fogera District, Northwest Ethiopia

Tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum L.) is an important cash crop in Fogera district of Amhara region, Ethiopia, yet its production and productivity remain constrained by poor agronomic practices, limited access to improved varieties, soil fertility depletion, diseases, and pests. Among these, the absence of regionally adapted improved varieties and research‐based recommendations for calcium (Ca) fertilization are major ones. To address this, a field experiment was conducted under irrigation during the 2023 growing season to evaluate the effects of calcium concentrations on the growth, yield, and quality of tomato varieties. The experiment was laid out in a factorial arrangement of three varieties (Galilea, Shanty PM, and Randah) and four levels of calcium (0%, 0.3%, 0.6%, and 0.9%) in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. The study revealed that both calcium concentration and tomato variety significantly influenced days to flowering, plant height, fruit length and width, blossom end rot (BER) incidence, and physiological weight loss. The interaction between these two factors had a significant effect on fruit weight, marketable yield, fruits per cluster, and fruit clusters per plant. The highest marketable fruit yield (63.05 t ha −1 ) and marginal rate of return were recorded from 0.9% calcium concentration, which also reduced BER incidence by 48.58% compared to the control, thereby enhancing fruit quality and significantly reducing economic losses for farmers. The Galilea variety, when combined with 0.9% calcium concentration, demonstrated superior calcium uptake, suggesting its strong potential for enhancing tomato productivity in Fogera district and similar agroecologies.