At São Francisco River Valley, melon is cultivated mainly by small farmers that use the furrow irrigation system, which is characterizes by low water application efficiency. The aim of this work was to evaluate yield and physiological quality of melon fruits subjected to different irrigation systems, furrow and drip, as well as to evaluate the efficiency and economy of water in both systems. The experiment was carried out from September to November of 2005, at the Universidade da Bahia, Juazeiro, Brazil. The experimental design was casualized blocks, with ten replications. The experimental plots were 20 m², with 2.0 m between lines and 0.5 m between plants. The melon cultivar studied was AF-682. The treatments were the 2 irrigation systems: drip and furrow. For the drip irrigation system, the dripping lines had 8 mm and drippers at each 0.30 m with 0.6 Lh-1 water flow. The furrows were constructed with 16 m length and 30 cm depth and width. The water flow was according to the regional agricultural practices, and were monitored with WSC Flume-A gutters. The harvest was performed 62 days after transplanting. The evaluations were fresh and dry weights of shoots, total commercial and refused production, fruits average weight, total soluble solids, pulp firmness, pulp width, transversal and longitudinal, internal cavity and fruits length and width. In general, there was no statistical difference for production and fruit quality for both irrigation systems evaluated. On the other hand the drip system was more efficient than furrow system.
Cucumis melo L.; water economy; semi-arid
