Nitrogen fertilization efficiency of the tomato crop, with organic fertilization, was evaluated in two experiments conducted at two times: spring/summer and autumn/spring. The experiments were carried out at the horticulture experimental field of the Universidade Federal de Viçosa in a Cambic Red-Yellow Argisol. In both times, the applied N doses, in the form of nitrocalcium, were 0.0, 93.3, 187.0, 374.0 and 748.0 kg/ha and the doses of organic fertilization, in the form of cattle manure compost, were 0 and 8 t/ha of dry matter. The experiments were arranged in randomized blocks, in a 5 x 2 factorial design, with four replications. The weight and the number of marketed tomatoes per plant increased with the increase of N level in the soil. The percentage of commercially discarded fruits was larger in the spring/summer than in the autumn/spring. The nitrogen fertilization efficiency in tomato crop is higher in the autumn/ spring than in the spring/summer. In the spring/summer, the efficiency was higher without the addition of organic matter to the soil, whereas in the autumn/spring the opposite took place.
Lycopersicon esculentum; Mill; tomato; nitrogen; organic fertilization; cattle manure
