Impact of mulching and fruit thinning practices on the economic viability of watermelon

Abstract

Watermelon is economically important vegetable crops for farmer during summer season. Mulching and fruit thinning help to increase yield of watermelon which ultimately help to increase farmers’ incomes. An experiment was carried out at Polytechnic in Horticulture, ASPEE College of Horticulture, Navsari Agricultural University, Paria, Valsad, Gujarat (India) during the summer seasons of 2022 and 2023. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design with factorial concept (FRBD), which comprising four mulching treatments namely, M1: black polyethylene mulch (50 µ), M2: silver-black polyethylene mulch (50 µ), M3: white plastic mulch (50 µ) and M4: control (without mulch) with three fruit thinning treatments namely, F1: maintaining two fruits per vine, F2: maintaining three fruits per vine and F3: maintaining four fruits per vine. All the twelve treatment combinations repeated thrice. The maximum net realization (840108 ₹ ha-1) and BCR (3.41) were recorded in silver-black polyethylene mulch @ 50 µ with maintaining three fruits per vine (M2F2).