Water is one of the major factors affecting tomato yield and quality. In spite of several irrigation scheduling methods available, most growers still irrigate in an empirical way. A simple, practical and sound technique is the soil water balance with a class A pan. The objective of this study was to evaluate the economical advantages from the use of class A pan to schedule irrigation for tomato crop in Central Brazil. Simulations were performed considering hand-move and center pivot sprinkle systems for areas up to 100 ha. Net income resulting from the use of the technology increased from R$ 70.14 to 263.49/ha for central pivot and from R$ 109.98 to 303.33/ha for hand-move system for areas from 3 to 100 ha, respectively. The payback of the technology investment was less than one year for irrigated areas over 10 ha. For areas under 3 ha the technology was found not economically viable.
Lycopersicon esculentum; irrigation scheduling; economical analysis
