International Journal of Horticulture, 2016, Vol.6, No.22, 1-14
1
Research Article Open Access
Effects of Variety and Manuring on the Growth, Yield and Nutritional Quality
of Watermelon (
Citrullus lanatus
L.) in A Rainforest Zone of Nigeria
Agele Samuel
, Sajo Adeola, Aiyelari Peter
Department of Crop, Soil & Pest Management, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria
Corresponding email:
International Journal of Horticulture 2016, Vol.6, No.22 doi
Received: 07 Aug., 2016
Accepted: 09 Sep., 2016
Published: 19 Aug., 2016
Copyright
© 2016 Agele et al., This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Preferred citation for this article
:
Agele S., Sajo A., and Aiyelari P., 2016, Effects of Variety and Manuring on the Growth, Yield and Nutritional Quality of Watermelon (
Citrullus lanatus
L.) in
A Rainforest Zone of Nigeria, International Journal of Horticulture, 6(22):1-14 (doi
Abstract
The effects of variety and manure application on the growth, yield and nutritional quality of watermelon (
Citrullus
lanatus
L.) were investigated during the rainy and late cropping seasons in Akure, a rainforest zone of Nigeria. Treatments were a
factorial combination of five watermelon varieties and three manure types laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD)
with three replications. The watermelon varieties were Crimson Sweet, Charleston Grey, Kaolac, Anderson and Sugarbaby, while the
manures which were applied at 3 weeks after planting, were organomineral fertilizer (OMF) (5 t/ha), NPK (compound) fertilizer (200
kg/ha) and an unmanured control. The watermelon varieties tested responded differently in terms of growth and yield components
due to differences in their genetic composition. In the rainy season, Charleston Grey performed well in terms of growth (biomass) but
produced poor fruit yield while Kaolac and Anderson recorded high fruit yields. Late season favored growth and yield in Crimson
Sweet and Kaolac, however, Kaolac produced good fruit yields as both rainy and late season crop. Fruit quality parameters such as
the number of rotten and cracked fruits differed among the varieties, in both rainy and late season, Charleston Grey and Kaolac
produced the highest number of rotten and cracked/split fruits. Sugarbaby and Anderson performed best in both seasons while
Charleston Grey is not adequately adapted to rainy season growing environmental conditions. The NPK fertilizer enhanced higher
growth and yield over OMF and unmanured control in both seasons. Significant interactions between variety and manuring were
found for growth and fruit yield characters of watermelon. In the rainy season crop, application of NPK and organomineral fertilizer
enhanced fruit yield components of watermelon varieties (Kaolac, Anderson, Crimson Sweet and Sugarbaby). In the late season,
NPK fertilizer enhanced number of fruits per plant in Charleston Grey, highest mean fruit diameter and mean fruit weight per plant in
Anderson. The chemical and proximate constituents of fruits of watermelon varieties were significantly affected by manure
application. In the rainy season, NPK enhanced fruit contents of N, P, K, moisture, total solids and vitamin C in most varieties except
in Anderson. In late season, NPK enhanced the nutritional (total solids) contents of the varieties while OMF enhanced fruit contents
of P, Ca, crude fiber, vitamin C and total solids in some of the varieties. However, unmanured Anderson had highest vitamin C
content in the late season. It is concluded that application of NPK and OMF fertilizer enhance growth, yield and nutritional quality of
watermelon varieties in both rainy and late season in the study area.
Keywords:
Watermelon; Growth; Yield; Nutrition; Seasons; Variety; Manuring; Humid forest
Introduction
Watermelon
Citrullus lanatus
L. is a member of the family Cucurbitaceae. This family includes cantaloupes,
cucumbers, pumpkins, squash, zucchini and butternut. Watermelon is a vine-like (scrambler and trailer) flowering
plant originally from Southern Africa. Its fruit which is called watermelon is a special kind referred to by
Botanists as pepo, a berry that has a thick exocarp and fleshy mesocarp and endocarp.
Watermelon is a highly relished fruit salad all over the world. This is because watermelon is low in calories but
highly nutritious and thirst-quenching. The fruit also contains vitamin C and A in form of the disease fighting
beta-carotene, Lycopene and beta-carotene compounds which are not found in vitamin/mineral supplements
((Maynard, 2001; FAO, 2010). Potassium is also available which is believed to help in the control of blood
pressure and prevention of heart attack. Watermelon fruit contains about 6% sugar and 91% water by weight. As
with many other fruits, it is a source of vitamin C and amino acid called citrulline (Mandel et al., 2005).
