Vol. 9, Special Issue 10, Part X (2025)

The present research work entitled “Studies of weather parameters on growth, and development traits and yield of tomato and cauliflower under protected environment and open field” was carried out in the Department of Agricultural Meteorology, College of Agriculture, IGKV, Raipur during Rabi 2023-24. Experiment was laid at the Centre of Excellence on Protected Cultivation and Precision Farming, IGKV, Raipur to evaluate the effect of weather parameters on growth, development, and quality of tomato and cauliflower under protected and open field conditions. A protected environment and adjacent open field were used to monitor microclimatic parameters, plant growth, yield attributes and quality traits. In tomato, protected environment conditions favoured higher plant height (249.3 cm), more number of leaves plant^-1(103 leaves plant^-1), higher number of fruits plant^-1 (39 fruits plant^-1), and larger fruit length (8.1 cm) and breadth (8.2 cm), resulting in higher yields (44.80 t ha^-1). Growth parameters such as plant height (249.3 cm), number of leaves plant^-1 (103 leaves plant^-1), days to first flowering (35 days), number of fruit clusters plant^-1 (8.16 cluster plant^-1), number of fruits plant^-1 (39 fruits plant^-1) of tomato were higher under the protected environment as compared to the open field. In tomato, parameters like plant height (cm), number of leaves plant^-1, and number of fruit plant^-1 showed strong positive correlations with maximum and minimum temperatures and light intensity 07:00 hours and 14:00 hours under protected environmental conditions, while RH I and RH II exhibited a negative correlation. Yield attributes such as average fruit weight (67.12 g fruit^-1) and yield (44.80 t ha^-1) of tomato were higher under protected environment than crop grown in open field. Tomato yield under a protected environment was 1.74 times greater than in open field conditions. Similarly, cauliflower grown under a protected environment exhibited enhanced plant height (45.04 cm) and number of leaves plant^-1 (19 leaves plant^-1), with early and consistent development of cauliflower crop. In cauliflower curd diameter (18.4 cm), average curd weight (0.720 kg curd^-1) and yield of cauliflower curd (35.56 t ha^-1) was found to be higher under protected environments, while cauliflower curd yield was 1.67 times higher under a protected environment than crop grown in open field. In cauliflower crop grown under open field plant height (cm) showed a significant positive correlation with RH I (r value 0.833*). Number of leaves plant^-1(r value 0.849*) shows a strong positive correlation with RH I under open field.