TECAMIN FLOWER® FOLIAR APPLICATION TO ALLEVIATE WATER DEFICIT EFFECTS ON GROWTH, YIELD AND WATER USE EFFICIENCY OF TOMATO.

During drought chemical elements in a dry fertilizer go into solution in the soil with difficulty and the nutrients are less available to the plant. Foliar fertilization with Tecamin flower®, could compensate for nutrient deficiency due to water deficit. This study was designed to observe the effects of different application rates of foliar application of Tecamin flower® on growth, yield and field water use efficiency (CWUE) of tomato under water deficit. The field experiment was conducted from March till July 2016 at the teaching and research farm of Diyala University, Iraq. Performance of tomato genotype 'Bobcat', 'Finenss' and 'Hadeer' was assessed by foliar application of Tecamin flower® at (0 and 2.5 mL L^-1) and two irrigation levels (50 and 100% based on field capacity). The results showed that chlorophyll content, fruit weight, yield per plant, total yield and CWUE were significantly affected by genotype and irrigations levels and application of Tecamin flower®. 'Bobcat' genotype has the highest value of plant yield (3.39 kg) and total yield (90.19 t ha^-1). 'Finenss' has the highest values for number fruit per plant (40.75), CWUE (75.37 kg m^-3) and the minimum leaf proline content (2.584 mg g^-1). Plant irrigated at 100% had the highest value of number fruit (35.27 fruit), most yield per plant (3.53 kg), total yield (94.02 t ha^-1) and minimum leaf proline content (2.557 mg g^-1). The highest CWUE (84.50 kg m^-3) were at 50% level. Plant treated at 2.5 mL L^-1 Tecamin flower® had most fruit/plant (37.61) yield per plant (3.73 kg), total yield (99.16 t ha^-1), CWUE (85.22 kg m^-3) and minimum leaf proline content (2.437 mg g^-1). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]