Probably the single most common mistake made

by gardeners growing tomatoes involves

watering them. Sometimes it’s too much, other
times it’s not enough, and occasionally it’s how
it’s done that causes the problem. Tomatoes are
particularly sensitive to water issues.

TOMATO PROBLEMS CAUSED BY

WATERING
The most common water-related problems that
tomatoes have are:
● Blossom End Rot (BER)
● Fruit splitting
● Loss of pest resistance
● Reduced production
● Root loss
● Stunted growth
● Sub-quality fruit

______________________________
Globally, the agricultural sector consumes about
70% of the planet's accessible freshwater more
than twice that of industry (23%), and dwarfing
municipal use (8%).

Wasteful and unsustainable

Many big food producing countries like the US,

China, India, Pakistan, Australia and Spain have
reached, or are close to reaching, their renewable
water resource limits.

The main causes of wasteful and unsustainable

water use are:
leaky irrigation systems
wasteful field application methods
cultivation of thirsty crops not suited to the
environment.
The problem is made worse by misdirected
subsidies, low public and political awareness of
the crisis, and weak environmental legislation.

Multiple environmental impacts

Unsustainable water use harms the environment

by changing the water table and/or depleting
ground water supplies.

Excessive irrigation can also increase soil

salinity and wash pollutants and sediment into
rivers – causing damage to freshwater
ecosystems and species as well as those further
downstream, including coral reefs and coastal
fish breeding grounds
_________________________________
In the meantime, while the number of food
insecure population remains unacceptably high
each year and worldwide, massive quantities of
food are lost due to spoilage and infestations on
the journey to consumers; ). In some African,
Caribbean and Pacific ACP countries, where
tropical weather and poorly developed
infrastructure contribute to the problem, wastage
can regularly be as high as 40-50% , .
Obviously, one of the major ways of
strengthening food security is by reducing these
losses
harmful effects cause due to excess water-
I. The field will get water logged and the crop
cannot get sufficient water and air, as good
aeration and warmth in the root zone are
essential for proper plant growth.
II. Bacteria that change organic matter into
plant foods cannot get necessary air and
warm temperature in the soil.
III. Desirable chemical reactions cannot take
place and nutrient availability is not easily to
the plants.
IV. Proper root development and absorption of
nutrients is not accelerated.
V. Seed germination is affected due to poor
aeration and warm temperature.
VI. Plants affected by diseases and pest attack.
Excess water cause water logging conditions,
soil may be ill drained and causes following
harmful effects.
a. In low lying areas excess water if cannot be
carried away as surface runoff causes water
logged condition which affects aeration and
soil temperature.
b. The fine texture soils due to poor
permeability the water cannot move
downward fast enough and accumulates on
the surface, obstructing aeration. In sandy
soil if heavy irrigation is given the water
 will rapidly percolate down and will be
wasted.
c. The water table may be high and the
additional water accumulates and chokes the
air spaces and saturates the surface and sub-
soil.
d. Many toxic salts affecting water absorption
by roots and causes damage to crops.
e. Agricultural operation viz. inter cultivation
cannot be carried out properly.
f. Weeds, which compete for nutrients, space
and light, grow rapidly and interfere, crop
growth and cultural operations.
g. Due to excess water structure of soil get
affected.
(B) Wastage Costly Input
i) Fertilizers loss- Due to excess water, leaching
losses of fertilizer namely urea,occur and
unavailable to the plants. Also availability of
other nutrients affected.
ii) Poor germination- Due to poor aeration and
warmth in the soil, seed germination is badly
affected and ultimately there is a poor stand of
crop.
iii) Effect on irrigation layout- Excess water
cause damage to irrigation layouts namely sara,
basin, and furrow, which cause flowing of water
and required labour to correct the layout.
iv) Effect on cultural operation- Excess water
interfere with inter cultivation, field requires
frequent weeding as excess water accelerates
weed growth. Due to wetting of land harrowing,
earthing-up etc.get affected and farm
implements turn to wear –tear.
v) Additional cost of labour and plant
protection- Due to frequent weeding and
damage cause to layout it requires more labour
for weeding and correction of irrigation layout.
As plants/crop affected due to diseases and
attack of pests it add cost of control measure of
these diseases and pests.
Thus excess water causes harmful effects on soil
and plant and other input it is necessary to apply
proper drainage methods and reclamation.

Egypt has been suffering from severe water scarcity in recent

years. Uneven water distribution, misuse of water resources
and inefficient irrigation techniques are some of the major
factors playing havoc with water security in the country. Egypt
has only 20 cubic meters per person of internal renewable
freshwater resources, and as a result the country relies heavily
on the Nile River for its main source of water.

Inefficient Irrigation
Egypt receives less than 80 mm of rainfall a
year, and only 6 percent of the country is arable
and agricultural land, with the rest being desert.
This leads to excessive watering and the use of
wasteful irrigation techniques such as flood
irrigation [an outdated method of irrigation
where gallons of water are pumped over the
crops]. Nowadays, Egypt’s irrigation network
draws almost entirely from the Aswan High
Dam, which regulates more than 18,000 miles of
canals and sub-canals that push out into the
country’s farmlands adjacent to the river. This
system is highly inefficient, losing as much as 3
billion cubic meters of Nile water per year
through evaporation and could be detrimental by
not only intensifying water and water stress but
also creating unemployment. A further decrease
in water supply would lead to a decline in arable
land available for agriculture, and with
agriculture being the biggest employer of youth
in Egypt, water scarcity could lead to increased
unemployment levels
the availability of water for irrigation can cause
desertification. Nearly all irrigation water
contains some salt. If an irrigation system lacks
a good drainage system, then the salt
accumulates in the soil. Eventually, the salt
reaches levels toxic to most plants. This problem
is now jeopardising about one-third of the
world’s irrigated land.
Agriculture in Egypt consumes about 85% of the annual
total water resource. More than 70% of the cultivated area
depends on low-efficiency surface irrigation systems,
which cause high water losses, a decline in land
productivity, waterlogging and salinity problems.
Moreover, unsustainable agricultural practices and
improper irrigation management affect the quality of the
country’s water resources. Reductions in irrigation water
quality have, in their turn, harmful effects on irrigated soils
and crops.