A Sustainable Approach of Low-Cost Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) with Recycled Tire Tubes for Enhancing Growth and Yield in Tomato Cultivation

Abstract

Due to urbanization and the increasing world population, people are facing various challenges, such as growing food demand, limitations in soil for agriculture, and the disposal of waste materials. The generation of waste tire tubes is one of the rising issues. Utilizing waste tire tubes for agriculture could be a great solution. However, many novel growing methods, such as the Nutrient Film Technique (NFT), require expensive materials. This study aims to evaluate the growth, yield performance, and fruit quality of hybrid tomatoes (Umagna) cultivated in different hydroponic systems, including an NFT system made with recycled tire tubes. The results of this study demonstrate that tomato plants were grown using two different methods: the Open Bag System (OBS) and the NFT system. Plant growth parameters varied among the treatments, including plant height, number of leaves, and days to first flowering. The average number of fruits per plant was higher in the NFT system. Plant height exhibited the highest mean values in the NFT system until the second inflorescence stage, while OBS recorded the highest plant height at the end of the experiment period. The growing method had a significant effect on the total fresh matter content. The dry matter content of roots and leaves was significantly higher in the NFT method. This study shows that the NFT system provides the opportunity to produce higher tomato yields compared to those obtained by conventionally used OBS.