Credit: Dani Gelardi
A UC Davis field crew hand-harvests three plants from each experimental processing tomato plot. This project is designed to test the effect of organic amendments in conventional cropping systems. We are looking at soil water retention, fertilizer use efficiency, and yield. Note how processing tomatoes grow uniform in size and close to the ground. After three plant samples are taken by hand from each plot, the remaining tomatoes will be mechanically harvested to fulfill a contract with a producer of canned soup.