Influence of Simulated Tembotrione Drift on Growth and Yield of Drip-Irrigated Tomato

Abstract

Tembotrione is a herbicide belonging to the triketone group, which is commonly used for postemergence weed control in maize fields. However, its application can have unintended effects on plants growing on neighboring land, due to factors such as spray drift, carryover, and residue in soils. These off-target effects can potentially cause harm to non-target plants and ecosystems. Off-target application of tembotrione to tomato plants can result in negative effects such as various patterns of chlorosis and reduction in growth, yield, and quality. These effects can adversely impact tomato plants and their ability to produce healthy fruit. Field trials were conducted to explain the negative effects of tembotrione on tomato plants at a rate of 20% of the recommended dose specified on the label. Several growth parameters were measured during the trial to assess the impact of tembotrione on tomato plants: fresh and dry biomass of plants (g), leaf area (cm²), yield (kg plot⁻¹), fruit length (cm), fruit diameter (cm), titrable acidity (%), soluble solid content (%), and pH. According to the results obtained, tembotrione negatively affected tomato plants. The applied dose of tembotrione mostly had a negative effect on the quality of both the tomato foliage and fruits. However, despite this negative effect, there was no statistically significant impact on the yield. In fact, the yield slightly increased as a result of tembotrione treatment. On the other hand, use of tembotrione caused a decrease in the marketable yield of tomatoes due to a reduction in the visual quality of the fruits. Additionally, the tembotrione drift simulation treatment resulted in an increase of approximately 17.5% in titrable acidity (TA).