Standardization of crop geometry fruit thinning and nutrient management in watermelon

Abstract

The present experiment on and#8213;Standardization of crop geometry, fruit thinning and nutrient management in watermelon (Citrullus lanatus Thumb.)and#8214; was carried out for two successive years during 2020-21 and 2021-22 in the farmer s field Nahat Chapani village, Teok, Jorhat (26°48and#61602;16.8and#61618; North latitude and 94°25and#61602;1.1and#61618; East longitude) with the objective to optimize the planting density for maximum yield and quality, to study the effect of crop load on growth, yield and quality and to study the effects of integrated nutrient management on growth, yield and quality. The experiment was laid out in factorial Randomized Block Design with 3 factors viz. Spacing, Fruit thinning and INM with three replications and the data of individual years were subjected to pooled analysis. The spacing levels were D1 (2.5m x 2m), D2 (1.5m x 1m) and D3 (1m x 1m) where F1 (no thinning), F2 (Thinning up-to 1 fruits /primary vine) and F3 (Thinning up-to 2 fruits/primary vine) were the fruit thinning levels. A total of 4 INM treatment were given i.e. N1 (100% RDF), N2 (50% RDF + 50% RDN through FYM), N3 (50% RDF + 50% RDN through vermicompost) and N4 (50% RDF + 25% RDN through Vermicompost + 25% RDN through FYM). newlineThe treatments significantly influenced the various parameters except a few. The spacing D1 (2.5m x 2m) recorded the maximum days to flowering (25.59 days), maximum fruits/plant (3.93) and fruit weight (2.34 kg) leading to higher yield per plant (8.87 kg) although the spacing D3 (1m x1m) exhibited minimum days to flowering (25.59) and maximum yield (8.14 t/ha) owing to maximum plant population. Quality parameters were not affected significantly by distance. Fruit thinning significantly influenced the yield attributing and quality parameters. Fruit thinning level (F2) resulted in maximum fruit weight (2.92 kg) and yield (5.3 t/ha) which was at par with F3 (5.38 t/ha). Fruit quality was significantly improved by fruit thinning recording highest values of TSS (12.65 oB), total sugar (8.88%), reducing sugar (5.94%) and.........