Articles
IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT OF PROCESSING TOMATO AND CUCUMBER IN ENVIRONMENTS WITH DIFFERENT WATERTABLE DEPTHS
Experiments were carried out from 1981 to 1985 on tomato and from 1981 to 1982 on cucumber in Veneto region (north-eastern Italy).
The experimental area was constituted by open field plots and containers with open bottom and the top at 1.3 m above soil level.
The containers were installed nearby the field plots and filled with the same soil type obtaining an artificial environment differing from the natural one mostly because of the deeper watertable level below the soil surface.
In each environment and on both crops, 4 irrigation treatments were compared replacing the 0%, 40%, 60% and 100% of the water deficit.
The two crops showed different responses to irrigation as a consequence of watertable depth.
Particularly, the restitution of water deficit giving maximum yield with shallow and deep watertable was 68% and 92% on tomato and 93% and more than 100% on cucumber.
When the water requirement of the crops was fully satisfied, tomato yield was higher in the environment with deeper watertable; the opposite happened for cucumber.
Data on some qualitative characters of both productions are also presented and discussed.