Growth of Tomato as Known as Lycopersicon Esculentum - Research Paper Example

Farms with both crops and livestock, or crop farms with a nearby source of livestock manure, can benefit by integrating the use of the manure resource into crop nutrient plans. While distributing manure takes more planning than disposing of it as a "waste" product, such a refined management strategy also increases the use of on-farm resources and usually reduces the expense of purchased fertilizers. Proper management of manure and crop nutrients also means less potential for excess nutrients to pollute surface water and groundwater. A most recent statistic on organic farming worldwide shows that about 30 million hectares are managed organically by more than 700 thousand farms, with an increased area by about 1.8 million hectares in 2006 (Cakmak, pg178). Organic agriculture becomes to be a sustainable development alternative for many countries and a solution for food security providing clean food. In the UAE, the soil is characterized by its poor physical and chemical properties. Low soil fertility and poor structure could threaten food production and supply. In the past, chemical fertilizer was the main source of nutrients for plants, which has been associated with chemical pollution to soil and groundwater. Organic fertilizers, as a renewable resource, have become a key role in crop production that maintains soil and water quality. Organic fertilizer has the ability to hold more nutrients and water making the soil more fertile (Cakmak, pg 165In addition, it contains some nutrients that assist plant growth and encourages soil microbial activity.  Although the animal manures in the country including camels, cattle, sheep, and chicken are largely available, it is not been reached by the farmers in a simple and clean way (Clark, pg 194).

Those residing in UAE might find it too hot to grow tomatoes and so they need to know how long it will take them to grow and how to take care of the plants. However, the biggest problem would be how to keep the soil damp as the water will evaporate quickly and one may need to water the plants twice a day.  In this case, it would be ideal to use pots of 500 millimeters across and 500 millimeters deep so the roots will have room to grow well. For a starter, one should fill the pots with good potting soil mixed with compost manure and then wet it and place 5 to 6 seedlings on top of the soil. Place a paper napkin over the seeds and wet it as it will keep the seeds from being washed away when you water. Keep the paper napkin wet until the seeds sprout and send roots down into the soil. Then remove and dispose of it. When the tomatoes get as high as your hand is wide, one can pick out the best tomato plant, and leave it in the pot and carefully dig up the other tomato plants and transplant them to other pots. Depending on the type of tomato plant seeds selected, such as cherries, one can have tomatoes’ to eat in two or three months. But if the place is too hot, one can grow tomatoes in baskets instead of pots since the baskets will take care of the drainage and give good air circulation and, which puts to rest the worry of overwatering. Furthermore, you can hang them elsewhere, when the sun is too hot. The other simple way of growing tomatoes is by getting some tomato seeds and placing them in a plastic cup or a plastic tray with a layer of wet kitchen towel and then covers up the cup with a non-transparent lid while indoor, sprinkle some water over the seeds every day until the seeds sprout and grow into baby plants. When the tomato plants are tall enough to handle, they can be transplanted to their individual baskets or medium size pots.

Set up some potting soil and a little sand mix with some manure and put approximately 2 inches of soil mix in the baskets or the pots. Then place the young plants in the center of baskets or pots, and cover the roots with a thin layer of dry soil, and afterward wet it with a fine rose. Stake the tomato plants with a toothpick, when the plant is less than 2 inches tall, or else; you can stake them with light bamboo sticks. The plants should be watered every day after they have been placed under the hot sun and there is hardly any rainfall so as to make sure the soil is always moist. When the plants are steady and taller, one can stake them with longer garden bamboo sticks and watch them as they grow into delicious-looking tomatoes.