Impact of surface and subsurface drip irrigation on yield and quality of 'honey dew' melon
2011
Antunez, A. | Martinez, J.P. | Alfaro, C. | Ale, M.
This study was conducted to determine the effect of the irrigation method on yield, fruit quality and profit benefits for field-grown ‘Honey Dew’ melon (Cucumis melo L.). Three irrigation treatments were established: furrow (F), surface drip irrigation (SDI) and subsurface drip irrigation (SSDI), in a nested block design while results were analyzed by Dunnett’s test, at 95% confidence (α=0.05). Twenty plants were randomly selected, harvested and analyzed per irrigation treatment. Yield was evaluated by number of fruits and fruit size. Fruit quality was evaluated determining dry matter, pH, tritatable acidity (TA), total soluble solid (TSS) content and TSS/TA rate of the fruit’s flesh. Drip irrigated melon plants produced up to 35% more commercial fruit than furrow irrigated plants, along with higher soluble solid content and tritatable acidity fruit. Subsurface drip irrigated melon plants (SSDI) had the highest dry matter percentage content of fruits of the treatments produced but the lowest TSS/TA rate. On the other hand, surface drip irrigated plants (SDI) yielded higher percentage of ‘first’ category fruit along with greater equatorial diameter fruit compared to other treatments.
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