Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment

Effect of irrigation levels on fruit characteristics, total fruit yield and water use efficiency of melon under drip irrigation system

Author(s):

Naji K. Al-Mefleh ¹*, Nezar Samarah ², Shahera Zaitoun ³, Abd Al-Majeed Al-Ghzawi ²

Recieved Date: 2012-02-18, Accepted Date: 2012-04-26

Abstract:

Impact of different irrigation levels on the melon fruit characteristics, total fruit yield and water use efficiency (WUE) was studied under field conditions in arid region. Two experiments with three treatment levels of actual evapotranspiration (AET) were tested. These treatments were: 0.50 AET (T1), 0.75 AET (T2), and 1.00 AET (T3). Irrigation levels had a significant effect on length, diameter, weight, Brix, flesh firmness, seeds, fertile seeds and sterile seeds of melon fruit (p<0.05). Increasing the irrigation levels increased the length, diameter, weight, Brix, flesh firmness, seeds, and fertile seeds of melon fruit. In Experiment 1, the means of total fruit yield were 19.3, 23.5, and 21.1 t ha^-1 at 0.50 AET, 0.75 AET and 1.00 AET, respectively. In Experiment 2, the means of total fruit yield were 15.6, 19.2, and 21.7 t ha^-1 at 0.50 AET, 0.75 AET, and 1.00 AET, respectively. The irrigation levels did not have significant effect on the WUE in Experiment 1 and vice versa in Experiment 2. The total melon fruit yield and WUE values were different in the experiments due to variation in the planting date during the summer season. For irrigating melon plants, the most preferable irrigation level for getting the highest total fruit yield was obtained at 0.75 AET, while, the most preferable irrigation level for the highest WUE was obtained at 0.50 AET.

Keywords:

Cucumis melo, water use efficiency, irrigation levels, melon yield, drip irrigation, Jordan

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Journal: Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment
Year: 2012
Volume: 10
Issue: 2
Category: Agriculture
Pages: 540-545

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