Abstract

Azapa valley, in the extreme north of Chile, as a weather that allows to grow vegetables throughout the year but specially during winter. Tomato is the most grown cultivar with an area of 840 hectares. Many farmers are improving the production processes by using an anti-insect web and a few are working with more sophisticated greehouses. The objective of this study was to evaluate two types of greenhouses to determine the effect of them on the production and quality of cherry tomato.The plants were cultivated in a system without soil, using perlita and compost as sustrate. The treatments were: T0 greenhouse with the form of a tunnel made of polycarbonate (high tech) and T1 greenhouse with the form of a chapel covered with anti-insect webs (low tech). The effect of the type of greenhouse on the watering parameters was quantified, also the production and quality of the fruit. In the results here were not observed significant differences in the production, though there was a difference in the number of fruit, being larger under the anti-insect webs. Regarding the quality, there was a significant difference, with a higher amount of soluble solids and a dry material percentage in the tomatoes grown in the low tech greenhouse. With the results obtained it can be concluded that the production is the same in both greenhouses, but the size of the fruit tends to be smaller when it grows under the web conditions.