In Brazil, tomatoes are cultivated principally in seasons with low precipitation and cool temperature such as in regions of Southeast, Northeast and Central west. In East Amazon, a humid tropical region of low altitude with high temperature, tomato cropping faces many difficulties. Low yield and plant mortality had reduced the number of tomato growers, with annual local production less than 0.1% of total volume commercialized. The grassland tomato cropping technique (TEG) was elaborated in 1997 and improved in 1998 to solve the problems of tomato production under hot and humid climate of Amazon, by using two major mechanisms: 1. Grassland or turfgrass field is used to control the proliferation of diseases, pests, weeds, erosion and leaching of the soil nutrients. 2. Burning of waste wood materials on planting sites to eliminate the graminea and to reduce the soil acidity and poverty. The present paper shows the preliminary results of the tomato cropping using this new technique with evaluation in yields, production cycle and average fruit weight. The new cropping technique allowed a yield of 5.6 ± 0.2 kg of tomato per plant and 60 to 80 days of harvest duration. This technique showed to be a promising cropping system for tomato production in the hot and humid tropical region, using graminea as soil protector and soil cleaner.
Lycopersicon esculentum; cropping system; tropical rainy climate; yield; production cycle
