A drip-irrigation study was conducted at the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (AVRDC) to determine its effectiveness on yield and quality of tomato ( Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.). Four drip-irrigation treatments, with moisture levels maintained above 25, 50, 65, and 80% available water, produced 20% to 40% more marketable yield than the treatment with monthly furrow irrigation, and 80% more than the nonirrigated control. Plots with 25% available water produced fewer nonmarketable fruits with similar yields to other drip-irrigation treatments and required 30% less water than the furrow irrigation control. Electrical conductivity of the root-zone soil extracts was lower for drip-irrigation treatments than for the furrow-irrigated plot. Leaf chloride content during the growing stages was not significantly different among various drip-irrigation treatments but was less than the furrow-irrigation treatment. No differences in fruit quality were measured between treatments.
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Lin et al. (1983) studied this question.