Effects of three irrigation systems on ‘Piel de sapo’ melon yield and quality under salinity conditions

The melon crop is moderately sensitive to soil salinity and, as a consequence, its yield decreases under saline conditions. Nevertheless, the exposure to moderate salinity also influences the melon quality by improving it, which offers compensation to the farmer. As a consequence, in moderately salt...

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Main Authors: Visconti, Fernando, Salvador, Alejandra, Navarro, Pilar, De-Paz, José M.
Format: article
Language:Inglés
Published: Elsevier 2020
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11939/6503
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0378377419311163
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author Visconti, Fernando
Salvador, Alejandra
Navarro, Pilar
De-Paz, José M.
author_browse De-Paz, José M.
Navarro, Pilar
Salvador, Alejandra
Visconti, Fernando
author_facet Visconti, Fernando
Salvador, Alejandra
Navarro, Pilar
De-Paz, José M.
author_sort Visconti, Fernando
collection ReDivia
description The melon crop is moderately sensitive to soil salinity and, as a consequence, its yield decreases under saline conditions. Nevertheless, the exposure to moderate salinity also influences the melon quality by improving it, which offers compensation to the farmer. As a consequence, in moderately salt-affected lands, like the traditional irrigation area of the ‘Vega Baja del Segura’ (Alicante, Spain), melons are being grown. In this area the modernization of the secular irrigation system through the replacement of flood by drip systems, is currently being fostered. This fact, however, is generating some controversy, due to the known salt leaching effect that flood irrigation followed by drainage makes in the soil. In this study, the effects of three irrigation systems, namely, drip (DI), subsurface drip (SDI) and flood (FI), on soil salinity and thus, on the yield and quality of the melon, were compared. According to the results, the FI system kept the soil salt levels during the growth period at 4.1 ± 0.3 dS/m, that is, significantly lower than the 4.7 ± 0.2 dS/m attained with the DI and SDI systems. Nevertheless, the DI and, overall, SDI, provided higher and more homogenous soil moisture completely counteracting the effect of salinity as revealed by the soil water potential calculations. As a result, the SDI gave 27 ± 5 Mg/ha of total yield in comparison to 23 ± 2 Mg/ha (DI) and 20 ± 6 Mg/ha (FI). Besides, the SDI system reduced the number of damaged melons, thus additionally contributing to the significant higher marketable yield of the SDI (25 ± 4 Mg/ha) in comparison to the DI (20 ± 1 Mg/ha) and the FI (19 ± 7 Mg/ha). On the contrary, in the SDI treatment the fruit soluble solids content, tritatable acidity and pulp firmness decreased a bit, however, in the sensory evaluation no differences among irrigation treatments were observed.
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spelling ReDivia65032025-04-25T14:47:19Z Effects of three irrigation systems on ‘Piel de sapo’ melon yield and quality under salinity conditions Visconti, Fernando Salvador, Alejandra Navarro, Pilar De-Paz, José M. Drip Subsurface drip Trickle Postharvest F06 Irrigation Flood irrigation Cucumis melo The melon crop is moderately sensitive to soil salinity and, as a consequence, its yield decreases under saline conditions. Nevertheless, the exposure to moderate salinity also influences the melon quality by improving it, which offers compensation to the farmer. As a consequence, in moderately salt-affected lands, like the traditional irrigation area of the ‘Vega Baja del Segura’ (Alicante, Spain), melons are being grown. In this area the modernization of the secular irrigation system through the replacement of flood by drip systems, is currently being fostered. This fact, however, is generating some controversy, due to the known salt leaching effect that flood irrigation followed by drainage makes in the soil. In this study, the effects of three irrigation systems, namely, drip (DI), subsurface drip (SDI) and flood (FI), on soil salinity and thus, on the yield and quality of the melon, were compared. According to the results, the FI system kept the soil salt levels during the growth period at 4.1 ± 0.3 dS/m, that is, significantly lower than the 4.7 ± 0.2 dS/m attained with the DI and SDI systems. Nevertheless, the DI and, overall, SDI, provided higher and more homogenous soil moisture completely counteracting the effect of salinity as revealed by the soil water potential calculations. As a result, the SDI gave 27 ± 5 Mg/ha of total yield in comparison to 23 ± 2 Mg/ha (DI) and 20 ± 6 Mg/ha (FI). Besides, the SDI system reduced the number of damaged melons, thus additionally contributing to the significant higher marketable yield of the SDI (25 ± 4 Mg/ha) in comparison to the DI (20 ± 1 Mg/ha) and the FI (19 ± 7 Mg/ha). On the contrary, in the SDI treatment the fruit soluble solids content, tritatable acidity and pulp firmness decreased a bit, however, in the sensory evaluation no differences among irrigation treatments were observed. 2020-06-08T07:34:12Z 2020-06-08T07:34:12Z 2019 article acceptedVersion Visconti, F., Salvador, A., Navarro, P., & de Paz, J. M. (2019). Effects of three irrigation systems on ‘Piel de sapo’ melon yield and quality under salinity conditions. Agricultural Water Management, 226, 105829. 0378-3774 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11939/6503 10.1016/j.agwat.2019.105829 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0378377419311163 en Atribución-NoComercial-SinDerivadas 3.0 España http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/ Elsevier electronico
spellingShingle Drip
Subsurface drip
Trickle
Postharvest
F06 Irrigation
Flood irrigation
Cucumis melo
Visconti, Fernando
Salvador, Alejandra
Navarro, Pilar
De-Paz, José M.
Effects of three irrigation systems on ‘Piel de sapo’ melon yield and quality under salinity conditions
title Effects of three irrigation systems on ‘Piel de sapo’ melon yield and quality under salinity conditions
title_full Effects of three irrigation systems on ‘Piel de sapo’ melon yield and quality under salinity conditions
title_fullStr Effects of three irrigation systems on ‘Piel de sapo’ melon yield and quality under salinity conditions
title_full_unstemmed Effects of three irrigation systems on ‘Piel de sapo’ melon yield and quality under salinity conditions
title_short Effects of three irrigation systems on ‘Piel de sapo’ melon yield and quality under salinity conditions
title_sort effects of three irrigation systems on piel de sapo melon yield and quality under salinity conditions
topic Drip
Subsurface drip
Trickle
Postharvest
F06 Irrigation
Flood irrigation
Cucumis melo
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11939/6503
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0378377419311163
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