The Response of Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) Varieties to Different Rates of Blended NPS Fertilizer at Wolaita Sodo University, Ethiopia

Tomato is one of the vital vegetable crops cultivated in Wolaita, southern Ethiopia, for domestic utilization and income generation. Its productivity is challenged mainly by the lack of well‐adapted varieties and feasible fertilizer rates. Therefore, field research was conducted at Wolaita Sodo University to evaluate the response of tomato varieties to blended nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur (NPS) fertilizer rates and to determine economically feasible NPS rates for tomato production during the 2021/2022 cropping seasons. Three tomato varieties (AVTO 0301, AVTO 1314, and AVTO 1464) and five NPS fertilizer rates (0, 75,150, 225, and 300 kg/ha) were treatments and laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) in three replications. Growth, phenology, and yield data were collected and analyzed by the Stata 10 software. The result showed that application of 300 kg/ha NPS had delayed days to flowering (55.11 days), increased plant height (80.8 cm), and fruit width (60.03 mm). The maximum number of the primary branches (8.68), fruit number (50.87), marketable fruit/ha (31.48 t), and total fruit/ha (33.50 t) were obtained by 300 kg/ha NPS fertilizers with AVTO 0301 followed by AVTO 1314 variety using 150 kg/ha NPS with marketable and total fruit of (26.91 and 28.94 t/ha), respectively. Economic analysis indicated that 300 kg/ha NPS fertilizers with AVTO 0301 variety gave the maximum net return of birr 733,412ETB with marginal rate of return (MRR; 244.45%). Therefore, it can be concluded that the use of 300 kg/ha NPS fertilizer with AVTO 0301 variety was found to be economically feasible for tomato production in the Wolaita area.