The Biological And Ecological Effects Of Monoculture Tomato Continuous Intercropped With Garlic In The Third And Fourth Year Under Plastic Tunnel

An investigation was carried out to explore the biological and ecological mechanism ofintercropping garlic continuously with tomato under plastic tunnel on relaxing the soilobstacles of continuous cropping tomato. At the same time, the establishing of highlyeffective garlic and tomato intercropping system provided technical reference for overcomingtomato continuous cropping obstacle under protected cultivation. The main results andconclusions are as follows:(1) During the falls of2010and2011, it was recorded that intercropping with garlicpromoted the growth of tomato. However, during the spring of2011, intercropping with garlicinhibited the growth of tomato especially for the garlic sprout intercropping system.(2) Intercropping with garlic cloves improved the content of vitamin C, soluble sugar,lycopene and the sugar acid ratio in tomato fruit. This was also true for intercropping withgarlic sprouts during the falls of2010and2011. But for the spring of2011, the content ofvitamin C, soluble sugar and the sugar acid ratio reduced. Therefore, higher fruit quality wasobtained for intercropping with garlic cloves than for intercropping with garlic sprouts andcontinuous tomato cropping.(3) During the falls of2010and2011, intercropping with garlic cloves enhanced tomatoproductivity gradually from the beginning until the end of the harvest. Nevertheless, the sameintercropping system gradually decreased the tomato productivity from the beginning until theend of the harvest.(4) The concentration of soil bacteria, actinomyces and microbes was observed higherfor the garlic intercropping system as compared to continuous tomato cropping. Meanwhile,there was an increase of the soil enzymes activity and available nitrogen. The change of soilfungi and available potassium content for the treatment of intercropping with garlic were alsoobserved.(5) Intercropping with garlic gained a better economic benefit under plastic tunnel for2010and2011. The appreciation rate of intercropping with garlic cloves and sprouts was 10.1%,0.94%respectively.(6) Intercropping garlic continuously with tomato under plastic tunnel indicated a certaincontrol effect for tomato root knot nematode with decreasing the disease index. The order ofpreventing the disease was intercropping with garlic sprout> intercropping with garlicclove> continuous tomato cropping.(7) The tomato showed a strong growth vigor in the fall of2010than in2011. A greatdifference was observed for the fruit quality between the fall of2010and2011.(8) The number of soil bacteria, total microorganism and soil enzymes activity wasnoticed higher in the autumn of2010than that in2011for all the treatment. It held theopposite side for the number of actinomyces and the content of soil available nitrogen showeda completeiy opposite conclusions for the two years.From all the above, we concluded that intercropping with garlic continuously can relievethe continuous tomato cropping obstacle under protection cultivation by increasing themicroorganism and nutrient content in soil,improving the activity of soil enzyme anddecreasing the occurrence of tomato root knot nematode. Intercropping with garlic clovesgains a higher comprehensive benefit than intercropping with garlic sprouts does by takingthe economic benefits into consideration. As a sustainable and high-efficiency cultivationmode, the system of intercropping with garlic cloves continuously provides techniques andguarantee for sustainable tomato production by mitigating continuous cropping obstacle underprotected cultivation.