Morpho-physiological aspects, yield and water-use efficiency in the Gália melon plant in a protected environment

Abstract

The protected cultivation of the melon has reached a prominent position in Brazil, allowing for year-round harvesting, a greater control of pathogens and diseases, a reduction in leaching-induced nutrient-loss, a reduction in the plant physiological stress and an improvement in production quality. The objective of this work was to assess morpho-physiological aspects, yield, fruit quality and water-use efficiency of the Gália melon grown in a greenhouse at different irrigation levels. The experiment was carried out on Campus IV of the Paraíba State University in Catolé do Rocha (PB). A completely randomized design was used at five irrigation levels (60; 80; 100; 120 and 140% of the ETo), which corresponded to 43; 57; 71; 85 and 99 mm plant-1 cycle-1 respectively, with eight repetitions. The variables measured were: leaf area, main-stem length, leaf and stem dry-weight, specific mass and leaf area, fruit yield, soluble-solid content and efficiency of water usage. The increase in irrigation volume resulted in significant response of the morpho-physiological attributes, and fruit yield and quality, however this increase causes a significant reduction in water- use efficiency (US).