Assessment of bio-efficacy and safety of SV FULORA biostimulant on growth, yield and quality of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.)

Abstract

The field experiment was conducted at Zonal Agricultural and Horticultural Research Station (ZAHRS), Navile, Keladi Shivappa Nayaka University of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences, Shivamogga, Karnataka, India, from December 2023 to May 2024 in a randomized complete block design with seven treatments replicated thrice to evaluate the bio-efficacy and safety of SV FULORA biostimulant on tomato (var. Arka Rakshak). SV FULORA was applied as foliar spray (1.25, 2.50 and 5.00 ml/L) or soil drenching (0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 L/acre) at 40 and 70 days after transplanting; morphological and physiological parameters, flowering, yield attributes, phytotoxicity and pre-and post-harvest soil nutrient status were recorded and data analysed by ANOVA at P = 0.05. SV FULORA significantly improved plant height (up to 92.0 cm), number of branches (26.3/plant), leaf area (8065 cm2/plant), total chlorophyll content (2.501 mg/g fresh weight), number of flowers (99.5/plant) and fruits (45.0/plant) and fruit yield (58.89 t/ha) compared to the untreated control (82.0 cm, 21.3 branches, 6550 cm2 leaf area, 2.017 mg/g chlorophyll, 85.4 flowers, 38.0 fruits and 50.70 t/ha). No phytotoxic symptoms were observed in any treatment and post-harvest soil analysis revealed only slight nutrient decline, indicating enhanced nutrient uptake efficiency. SV FULORA proved effective and safe, increasing tomato yield by up to 16.2% and is recommended for integration with standard fertilizer practices.