CUCUMBER YIELD UNDER REGULAR DEFICIT IRRIGATION AND MULCHING TREATMENTS

Open field experiments were carried out for two consecutive years at the Agricultural and Educational Center of the American University of Beirut to study the yield of cucumber (Cucumis sativa ‘Byblos’), under regular deficit irrigation and different polyethylene mulch.
Soil moisture content with depth, marketable cucumber yield, water use efficiency, and soil temperature were measured.
The irrigation treatments were: during the first year, W1 irrigate reestablishing field capacity when 30% of the readily available water was used, W2 irrigate 75% of W1, and W3 irrigate 50% of W1; during the second year, irrigation treatments were applied at 14 (W1), 10 (W2) and 7 (W3) days irrigation intervals; the control (W0) was no irrigation in both years.
The mulching treatments were no-mulch (control), black and clear polyethylene mulch.
The cumulative evapotranspiration was 77% for W2, and 58% for W3 as compared to W1; while the yield was 21.2, 28.7, and 29.8 tons/hectare under W1 treatment; 19.0, 25.3, and 27.5 tons/hectare for W2; and 15.6, 25.2 and 26.9 tons/hectare for W3 treatment, for no-mulch, black and clear, respectively, for the first year.
During the second year the cucumber yield was as follows: 46.07, 40.37, and 29.32 tons/hectare for 7 days interval; 42.89, 34.28, 24.34 tons/hectare for 10 days interval; and 35.22; 27.85, and 19.97 tons/hectare for 14 days interval; and 13.18, 12.47, and 4.49 tons/hectare for no irrigation under clear, black, and no-mulch treatments, respectively.
The soil temperature in the root zone was highest, intermediate, and lowest under clear mulch, black mulch, and no mulch, respectively.

III International Symposium on Cucurbits

M.N. Nimah

water use efficiency, sustainable agriculture, deficit irrigation, soil moisture distribution, mulching

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2007.731.25