Response of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) varieties to different trellising methods in Northeastern Ethiopia

Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) is the most commonly cultivated vegetable crop in the world as well as in<br> Ethiopia. However, indeterminate tomato production is being limited due to the incidence of fruit rotting, pests, and<br> disease attacks. A field experiment was conducted at Mersa College of Agriculture Research site in the North Wollo<br> zone to evaluate the response of tomato varieties to different trellising methods in the 2018–2019 cropping season under<br> irrigation. Sirinka-1, Mersa, and Marglobe and four trellising methods (non-trellising, single pole, classic horizontal and<br> caging) were laid down in RCBD and replicated three times. Phenology, growth, and yield parameters were collected<br> using standard procedures and analyzed using GenStat software. Results revealed significant (P &lt; 0.05) differences for<br> days to 50% flowering, days to 50% maturity, number of flowers per cluster, and number of fruit sets per cluster, while<br> their interaction was not significant. The lowest unmarketable yield (3.22tha− 1) was obtained from Sirinka-1 and Mersa<br> (3.73tha− 1) with cage trellising, followed by Mersa (4.44tha− 1) with classic horizontal trellising. The highest marketable<br> fruit yield was recorded from Marglobe grown using cage trellising, followed by the same variety with classic horizontal.<br> However, a higher marginal rate of return was found in the classic horizontal with Mersa variety, followed by the same<br> variety with a cage. The overall result indicated that growing of Mersa variety using classic horizontal trellising may be<br> a good option for tomato production in northeastern Ethiopia.