nvestigation the effect of poly ethylene mulches in order to reduce affects of water irrigation salinity and increasing yield and quality of cantaloupe.

In Rodush rejoin of Esfahan the increasing salinity and reducing water quality has doubled the importance of utilization management scheme to decrease the effect of salinity on crop yield. Utilization of plastic mulch for reduction of soil salinity is a suitable management technique. A field trail was conducted to study the effect of irrigation water salinity and plastic mulch on yield of Cantaloupe (Cucumis melo L.) Shahabadi. The factorial combination of four irrigation water salinities of 2, 4, 6 and 8 ds/m and three mulch treatment including bare soil (BS), transparent plastic mulch (TPM) and black none-transparent mulch (BPM) using a randomized complete block design in three replicate on cantaloupe yield and quality were studied. The effect of saline irrigation water on yield, total numbers, weight of fruit, yield of plant, yield marketable and yield of none-marketable fruit were highly significant (P 0.01) and on number of fruit per plan was significant (P 0.05). The effect of mulch treatments on plot yield, weight of fruit, and yield of plant were highly significant (P 0.01) and on total number of fruit, number of fruit per plot, were significant (P 0.05) and were not significant on yield of cull fruits. The effect of saline irrigation water treatment and mulch treatments were not significant on any of the previous parameters. The cantaloupe yield of 2, 4, 6 and 8 dS/m irrigation water treatment across all mulch treatment were 46, 36, 27 and 28 kg per plot, respectively (9 square meter) and were significantly different (P0.01). The average of plot yield for BS, BPM and TPM were 19, 40 and 42 kg per plot, and there was significant differences (P0.05) between plastic mulch with bare soil. The plastic mulch increased fruit earliness (yield of first tree pick to total yield) compare with BS. The irrigation water salinity and plastic and interaction effect of them were not significant on fruit Cl and nitrate content. The average soil salinity in 0 to 60 cm increased with increasing irrigation water from 4.5 dS/m to 11 dS/m, in 2 and 8 dS/m irrigation water salinity treatment. Increasing salinity of irrigation water enhanced the effect of mulch treatment on decreasing the soil salinity. The relationship between cantaloupe fruit yield and soil salinity was Yr=100- 7.1X(ECe-2.48), where Yr, and ECe are the relative yield (yield of non-saline to saline treatment yield) and electrical conductivity of soil in 0-60 cm soil depth, which shows cantaloupe is moderately sensitive to salinity. Use of plastic mulches to increase earliness and decrease salinity effect and on time planting to avoid hot summer days is recommended for planting cantaloupe in similar environment. Keywords: cantaloupe, salinity, plastic mulch, salinity tolerance