Impact of bio fertilizer and magnetic irrigation water on growth and yield of melon Cucumis melo L.

Abstract

Abstract The field experiment was conducted at Baqubah nursery, Directorate of Diyala agriculture in Iraq during summer growing of 2017 to study the effect of bio and chemical fertilizers with magnetized water as well as their interactions on growth and yield of melon cv. Piel de sapo. The experiment was laid-out in Randomized Complete Block Design with factorial experiment with three replications and two factors, included two treatments of fertilizer types (urea 50 kg N. ha−1) with Bio-fertilizer (Azospirillum brasilense and Azotobacter chroococcum) and chemical fertilizer (urea 100 kg N. ha−1) and the second factor included magnetized water and non-magnetized water. The results showed that bio & chemical fertilizer caused significant increases in all studied traits rates compared to chemical fertilizer. Also magnetized water revealed that significant superiority of all study traits rates compared to non-magnetized water. Whereas the interaction between bio and chemical fertilizers with magnetized water led to significant superiority in other treatments with the highest values of all study traits, viz. fruits yield (7.2 kg. plant−1), fruits weight (3.4 kg. replicat−1), total yield (28520.0 kg. ha−1), fruit length (27.6 cm), content of fructose sugar in fruits after 24 days of storage (13.1%), fruit diameter from outside and inside (16.8 and 5.1cm) respectively, content of fibers in fruits after 24 days of storage (6.4%), fruits content of TSS% after 3 days of storage (13.7%) and fruits firmness after 24 days of storage (2.8%).