TITLE:
Use of By-Products from the Tequila Industry. Part 12: Composted Agave Bagasse for Growing Grape Tomatoes
AUTHORS:
Gilberto Íñiguez-Covarrubias, Walter Ramírez-Meda, José De Jesús Bernal-Casillas, Gil Virgen-Calleros
KEYWORDS:
Agave Bagasse, Grape Tomatoes, Tequila Industry
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.13 No.9,
September
20,
2022
ABSTRACT: Here, we evaluated the
possibility of growing grape tomatoes on three different mixtures of composted
agave bagasse substrate. Tomatoes were grown in 28-L pots for 106 days under a
drip irrigation system with a hydroponic crop nutrient solution. The average
production of grape tomatoes was 338.9, 358.9, and 325.7 g/pot/cut for each of
the substrates studied, and no significant difference was observed between
treatments (p > 0.5). The mean of numbers of grape tomatoes were
34.6, 38.8, and 34.2/pot/cut for each of the substrates studied, and no
significant difference was observed between treatments (p > 0.5). The mean weight of individual grape tomatoes
was about 10.4 g for all of the substrates tested. These results confirmed the
notion that a composted agave bagasse substrate could replace an expensive
imported substrate. The remaining challenge is to produce agave bagasse
substrate commercially, because to date, agave bagasse substrates have only
been produced on a pilot scale for testing. Therefore, it is necessary to
implement a stabilized process for producing
agave bagasse at a commercial level. This process must consider economic
production costs and market value to ensure that the product is competitive
with other substrates typically used in soilless crops.