Evaluation of vegetable crops in low & mid altitude areas in Central Province, Papua New Guinea

An approach toward improving vegetable production in Central Province, Papua New Guinea to Supply Port Moresby markets Abstract Tomato, Lycopersicum esculentum, is an important vegetable crop grown worldwide and there is an urgent need to improve its production to meet the growing demand of people in Port Moresby markets, Papua New Guinea. Field evaluation on the crop growth and yield was measured on plant height, number of branches, canopy diameter, number of fruits, size of fruits and the fruit weight and susceptibility to insect pests and diseases of six different tomato cultivars at Pacific Adventist University (PAU) Farm during June-September 2011. Statistical analysis of the results showed a significant differences (P<0.05, LSD) among cultivars in the growth and yield on the six cultivars. Money Maker, Summer Star, KY Grace and Gross Leese cultivars higher significant (P<0.05, LSD) crop yield than Roma and Beef Steak cultivars. The Blossom end rot problems and tomato fruitworm infestations significantly reduced (P<0.05, LSD) tomato yield particularly in Roma and Beef Steak cultivars during the fruit maturation phase. Evidences in yield loss due to these biological factors have provided added options toward addressing the urgent need of tomato cultivars in Central Province to supply PoM markets. Furthermore, we are still conducting more research on evaluation of vegetable varieties and identifying the insect-pest-disease infestation this year, 2012 in PAU and National Agriculture Research Institute (NARI).