Irrigation scheduling and economic viability of watermelon production in a coarse-textured soil

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the use of irrigation scheduling strategies to enhance irrigation management in watermelon production, and to analyze its economic viability of different. Water management practices for watermelon production in Alabama. Field experiments were conducted at the E.V Smith Research and Extension Center, Shorter, AL in 2022 and 2023. Three irrigation scheduling treatments were tested: systematic irrigation (SYS), crop water demand (CWD), and soil water status method (SWS). Results from trials conducted in 2022 and 2023 indicated that SWS had a higher biomass accumulation, increased yield, and allowed for the best economic viability between years. Fruit quality had significant differences for soluble solids, in which SWS and CWD had higher soluble solids levels compared to SYS. Irrigation water savings were higher in SWS compared to other treatments, resulting in 54% water savings compared to SYS and 16% to CWD in 2022. In 2023, SMS used 100% less water than SYS, and 19.5% than CWD. The main effect of irrigation scheduling treatments within year had no significant differences in 2022, conversely, the SWS (76,335 kg ha-1) had a higher yield compared to CWD (46,426 kg ha-1) and SYS (50,231 kg ha-1) in 2023. Economic analysis indicates that SWS was the most economically viable treatment, in particular SWS had constantly higher profits in both years that were significantly different for the weather conditions.