Rainwater harvesting with polyethylene film covered ridges for pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo L.) seed production under semiarid conditions

Abstract

The aim of the study is to evaluate effectiveness of a rainwater harvesting technique with polyethylene film covered ridges (RHCR) on pumpkin seed production under rain-fed conditions in Kayseri/Turkey. For this purpose, a two-year experiment, of which were consisted three covered ridge widths (R-1=0.5, R-2=0.7, and R-3=0.9 m) and a control treatment, was conducted. The experimental design was completely randomized plots in blocks with three replications. Significantly higher seed yields were obtained from R-2 and R-3 (202 and 208 kg ha(-1)) in first year and from R-2 (660 kg ha(-1)) in second year. Although excessive drought conditions were experienced during pumpkin growing period in those years, especially R-2 treatment resulted significantly higher yield. Higher plant density in R-1 and lower density in R-3 negatively affected seed yield especially in water scarce second year. In second year, leaf area, mean fruit weight, fruit yield, seed yield and 1000-seed weight were found higher than ones in first year because of application of nitrogen a whole at sowing. We concluded that RHCR with optimum plant density and proper covered ridge wide, and application whole nitrogen at sowing under rain-fed conditions are effective ways to obtain higher pumpkin production in semiarid regions.