Re-circulating aggregate hydroponic system: a strategy for off-season tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill) production in Leyte, the Philippines

Yield losses in tomato production can be attributed to adverse environmental conditions like heavy precipitation which favors proliferation of soil-borne pathogens. Among the off-season production technologies, hydroponics appears to be a promising solution for managing soil-borne diseases in vegetable crops. In this study, tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) were grown conventionally or hydroponically using the re-circulating aggregate hydroponic system (ReCAHS) with either simple nutrient addition program (SNAP1) solution based on Peter's hydrosol from Allied Botanicals or SNAP2 solution from the Institute of Plant Breeding, UPLB. We evaluated the growth and yield of tomato and assessed the resistance of tomato to bacterial wilt infection under both growing systems. ReCAHS proved to be a promising technology for off-season production of tomato. This system produced vigorous plants and controlled bacterial wilt infection. An economic analysis showed that ReCAHS was more profitable than the conventional system, regardless of different SNAP solution used. On the other hand, control plants or those grown in conventional production system had zero yields due to very severe bacterial wilt infection.