Yield and Fruit Quality of Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus(Thumb.) Matsum. & Nakai.) and Melon (Cucumis meloL.) under Protected Organic and Conventional Farming Systems in a Mediterranean Region of Turkey

Abstract

Protected conventional and organic farming systems for watermelon and melon were compared over a two-year period in the Mediterranean Amik plain of southern Turkey. Yield, fruit quality and growth responses of the vegetable crops were measured and compared as a function of conventional management, and three compos ted sheep-cattle manure treatments of 6 kg m-2 , 12 kg m-2 and 18 kg m-2 On average, total and marketable yields of watermelon and melon grown organically under low plastic tunnels showed a two-fold increase under the organic treatments of 12 kg m-2 and 18 kg m-2 relative to the protected conventional management system (p < 0.05).There was no significant difference in watermelon and melon yields between the manure application levels of 12 and 18 kg m-2 There were significant changes in mean fruit weight and width between the control and the manure level of 18 kg m-2 for watermelon and in mean stem diameter between the control and the manure levels of 12 and 18 kg m-2 for melon (p < 0.05).Multiple linear regression (MLR) models accounted for about 49% and 52% of variations in marketable yields of melon and watermelon as a function of the control and the manure levels of 12 and 18 kg m-2 , respectively. The findings indicate that protected organic watermelon and melon systems in this Mediterranean region can produce more total and marketable yields than protected conventional systems. Protected organic farming systems can assist in compliance with maximum residue limits imposed on exported agricultural commodities and reduce dependency on industrial fertilizers as well as emissions of fertilizer production-related greenhouse gases. *Corresponding

Utilización del compost de orujo de vid como enmienda orgánica y fertilizante en una zona vulnerable

“…Algunos estudios defienden que la producción de melón con incorporación de fertilización orgánica al suelo, es similar o incluso superior que con el sistema convencional de fertilización mineral (Bulluck et al, 2002;Fernandes et al, 2003;Morra et al, 2003;Cürúk et al, 2004;Melero et al, 2006) además de contener en el fruto, igual o mayor cantidad de solidos solubles. (Cürük et al, 2004;Fernandes et al, 2003). La planta es capaz de absorber N en algunas formas orgánicas, tales como aminoácidos (Näsholm et al, 2000), proteínas (Yamagata and Ae, 1999;Matsumoto et al, 2000) y mezcla de otros compuestos orgánicos solubles (Okamoto et al, 2003), lo que implica que la aplicación de compost de orujo puede proporcionar al cultivo de melón, varias de estas formas nitrogenadas, favoreciendo su crecimiento y desarrollo.…”