Tomato Health Management

Tomato Health Management draws together the information that’s essential for the healthy production of both fresh-market and processing tomatoes. It covers every aspect of tomato production, including disease and pest control, cultural practices such as irrigation and fertilization, nutritional and other abiotic disorders, and postharvest quality.



Tomato is an intensely managed crop, and the production of high-quality, top-value yields is a substantial and often daunting challenge. Tomato Health Management helps meet that challenge by serving as a one-stop informational source for anyone interested in any step of the production cycle. Whether you need to know what cultivars to select, how to identify and treat a problem in the field or the greenhouse, or even what chlorination protocol best protects tomatoes after harvest, you will find the answer in this all-encompassing handbook. It provides science-based knowledge in an accessible format that will be readily useful to anyone in the tomato-production chain. From the greenhouse to the organic setting and beyond, this book describes management strategies that will help you avoid and overcome issues presented by weed and insect pests, diseases and abiotic disorders, and other concerns, such as plant selection, soil quality, storage, and appearance for market.



Producing healthy tomatoes is big business, as the crop adds approximately $2 billion a year to the U.S. agricultural economy. This makes Tomato Health Management a valuable resource for the variety of professionals working in tomato production. The scientifically peer-reviewed information delivered in this book is synonymous with good management practices at all stages of production. By integrating those practices, the book explains how to plant, grow, harvest, and store tomatoes in labor-efficient, cost-effective ways and to simultaneously improve the health and value of your tomato crop.



Editors R. Michael Davis, Ken Pernezny, and Janet C. Broome have assembled a group of internationally recognized experts from the fields of soil science, weed science, nematology, plant pathology, entomology, and crop science—all key areas of applied tomato research and management. The editors have organized the book for ease of use and supplemented the text with 220 high-quality color photographs and diagrams, along with quick-reference tables and boxes and handy callouts of key concepts.



Rarely is such a broad range of cross-disciplinary topics covered in one integrated and convenient source. Tomato Health Management will be useful to growers, plant pathologists, crop-production specialists, diagnosticians, agronomists, regulatory agents, crop consultants, educators, researchers, Extension professionals, tomato breeders, entomologists, horticulturists, weed scientists, county agents, master gardeners, and educators. This book will find a home tucked in the door of a pickup truck as easily as on the shelves of a comprehensive diagnostic lab or full-service library.