Agronomic performance of watermelon crop on the basis of reused polypropylene and colored plastic mulches

Abstract

The combined use of mulching and polypropylene in cucurbits crop is a viable technique for control of weeds and pests that has been widely used in agropolo Assu-Mossoró-Barauna, RN. The objective was to evaluate the yield and fruit quality of watermelon cultivated with mulching of different colors and protected with poly­propylene with different times of uses. The experiment was conducted in Mossoro city, RN, using experi­mental design of randomized blocks with four replications, in a factorial 3 x 3, the first factor color polyeth­ylene mulching (black, white and silver) and the second factor polypropylene uses time (new, reused once and reused twice). The variables analyzed were number of fruits per plant, weight of commercial fruits, commercial fruit productivity, non-commercial and total, soluble solids and titratable acidity. It was observed isolated effect of polypropylene for number of fruits per plant and soluble solids and significant effect of mulching interaction and polypropylene for commercial and total productivity. The reuse of polypropylene afforded effect on productivity and fruit quality. The reuse of the once and twice polypropylene provides fruits with a higher content of soluble solids. There was no effect of different color 'mulching' productivity and qual­ity watermelon "Mickylee".

Additional keywords: Citrullus lanatus L.; protection of plants; soil cover.