2012 Huang-SCI.pdf

I H C a L b a A R R A K L C C Y F S 1 t a G e a 1 hEurop. J. Agronomy 43 (2012) 68– 76 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect European Journal of Agronomy jo u rn al hom epage: www.elsev ier .com/ locate /e ja mpact of saline water irrigation on yield and quality of melon (Cucumis melo cv. uanghemi) in northwest China .H. Huanga, L. Zonga, M. Buonannob, X. Xuea, T. Wanga, A. Tedeschib,? Key Laboratory of Desert and Desertification, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 320 West Donggang Road, anzhou 730000, PR China CNR-ISAFOM-Institute for Agricultural and Forest Systems in the Mediterranean, National Research Council (CNR) of Italy, Via Patacca 85, 80056 Ercolano Naples, Italy1 r t i c l e i n f o rticle history: eceived 26 March 2012 eceived in revised form 7 May 2012 ccepted 10 May 2012 ey words: eaf area index rop evapotranspiration ucumis melo ield ruit quality alt tolerance a b s t r a c t Melon plants (Cucumis melo L.) cv. Huanghemi were grown in an open field trial in 2007 and 2008 in the Minqin Oasis in northwest China to investigate the effect of increased saline water concentration on yield, crop tolerance and fruit quality. Three saline water concentrations were evaluated: 0.8, 2 and 5 g L?1 (C; S1 and S2) with an electrical conductivity of 1, 2.66 and 7.03 dS m?1 respectively. The saline concentrations of irrigation water were intended to reproduce the saline concentration in groundwater present throughout the Minqin Oasis. The melon was irrigated by furrow irrigation. The soil electrical conductivity in saturated paste (ECe) increased in treatment S2 during both the first and second year. Treatment S1 shows the same trend, although less pronounced and only in the first year. At the same time no significant increase was ob