Soil characterization for production of an industrial tomato variety in South Portugal - a case study

Appropriate soil conditions are important to the success of tomato culture. In fact, there are mineral elements that are essential for the good and healthy development of tomatoes, namely, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sulfur, iron, and zinc. Additionally, organic matter and pH play an important part in the process. In this context, this study aimed to characterize a soil allocated to the production of an industrial tomato variety in the south of Portugal. As such, mineral elements content, pH, electrical conductivity, humidity, organic matter, and color (without humidity and having or not organic matter) were analyzed in 16 soil samples before any type of soil preparation. Through principal components analysis (PCA) was possible to observe that electrical conductivity and humidity are more correlated with each other than pH and organic matter. Besides, pH of soil varied between 6.9 (minimum) and 7.3 (maximum) being in accordance with the ideal range values for tomato production. Also, regarding quantification of mineral elements Fe showed a higher content, followed by K, Ca, P, Mg, S, Zn, and As. However, regarding the color of the soil without humidity and without humidity and organic matter, there were significant differences between CieLab parameters (L, Chroma, and Hue). Nevertheless, soil conditions of the field presented good requirements for tomato production, despite the higher levels of Fe in the soil and the presence of As.