PRODUCTION AND QUALITY OF MINI WATERMELON UNDER DRIP IRRIGATION WITH BRACKISH WATER

• Autor(a) principal: Ó, Lais Moniue Gomes do
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Outros Autores: Cova, Alide Mitsue Watanabe, Gheyi, Hans Raj, Silva, Neilon Duarte da, Azevedo Neto, Andre Dias de
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Revista Caatinga
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.ufersa.edu.br/caatinga/article/view/9087
• topic: Citrullus lanatus. Manejo da irrigação. Salinidade. Índice de maturação.; Citrullus lanatus. Irrigation management. Salinity. Maturity index.

Watermelon plays an important role in Brazilian agribusiness. The objective of present study was to evaluate the effect of different irrigation managements and water salinity levels, on the main productive and postharvest characteristics of mini-watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) cv. ‘Sugar Baby’. The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse in a completely randomized design, arranged in a 2 x 4 factorial scheme, with four replicates. The treatments consisted of two types of irrigation management (conventional and pulse) and four saline levels of nutrient solution of fertigation (2.5; 4.5; 5.5; 6.5 dS m-1). The control treatment corresponded to the electrical conductivity of the nutrient solution prepared with local supply water. The irrigation depth was calculated by the product of reference evapotranspiration and crop coefficient. The number of pulses were defined and fractionated according to the atmospheric demand. The salinity of the fertigation solution affects some variables of the production, but does not reduce the quality of the mini-fruit cv. ‘Sugar Baby’. The management of pulse irrigation shows better results in low salinity, while conventional drip management is more suitable for high salinity (6.5 dS m-1).