Borthakur, Pritom Kr.Deka, Bhabesh2024-07-112024-07-112023https://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810211804The present experiment on ―Standardization of crop geometry, fruit thinning and nutrient management in watermelon (Citrullus lanatus Thumb.)‖ was carried out for two successive years during 2020-21 and 2021-22 in the farmer‘s field Nahat Chapani village, Teok, Jorhat (26°4816.8 North latitude and 94°251.1 East longitude) with the objective to optimize the planting density for maximum yield and quality, to study the effect of crop load on growth, yield and quality and to study the effects of integrated nutrient management on growth, yield and quality. The experiment was laid out in factorial Randomized Block Design with 3 factors viz. Spacing, Fruit thinning and INM with three replications and the data of individual years were subjected to pooled analysis. The spacing levels were D1 (2.5m x 2m), D2 (1.5m x 1m) and D3 (1m x 1m) where F1 (no thinning), F2 (Thinning up-to 1 fruits /primary vine) and F3 (Thinning up-to 2 fruits/primary vine) were the fruit thinning levels. A total of 4 INM treatment were given i.e. N1 (100% RDF), N2 (50% RDF + 50% RDN through FYM), N3 (50% RDF + 50% RDN through vermicompost) and N4 (50% RDF + 25% RDN through Vermicompost + 25% RDN through FYM). The treatments significantly influenced the various parameters except a few. The spacing D1 (2.5m x 2m) recorded the maximum days to flowering (25.59 days), maximum fruits/plant (3.93) and fruit weight (2.34 kg) leading to higher yield per plant (8.87 kg) although the spacing D3 (1m x1m) exhibited minimum days to flowering (25.59) and maximum yield (8.14 t/ha) owing to maximum plant population. Quality parameters were not affected significantly by distance. Fruit thinning significantly influenced the yield attributing and quality parameters. Fruit thinning level (F2) resulted in maximum fruit weight (2.92 kg) and yield (5.3 t/ha) which was at par with F3 (5.38 t/ha). Fruit quality was significantly improved by fruit thinning recording highest values of TSS (12.65 oB), total sugar (8.88%), reducing sugar (5.94%) and DPPH scavenging activity (54.57%). Among the INM treatments, N3 (50% RDF + 50% Vermicompost) was most effective with respect to growth, reproductive, physiological, quality and soil parameters viz., Highest fruits per plant (4.21), yield per hectare (6.26 t), TSS (13.10 oB), total sugar (9.14%), carotenoid (8.22 mg/100g), Lycopene (7.16 mg/100g), DPPH scavenging activity (54.86%), total chlorophyll (2.39 mg/g FW), soil available N (311.86 kg/ha), P (33.15 kg/ha), K (274.49 kg/ha) and organic carbon (1.19%). The interaction of three factors revealed that T35 (D3F3N3) recorded maximum production (10.05 t/ha) that was at par with T31 (D3F2N3) recording 9.82 t/ha yield. T7 recorded the highest values of fruit weight (3.2 kg), TSS (13.28 oB), total sugar (9.24%), carotenoid (8.3 mg/100g), lycopenne (7.19 mg/100g), and DPPH scavenging activity (54.97%) which was at par with T27 (D3F1N3), T31 (D3F2N3) and T35 (D3F3N3). Significantly higher values of soil available N (313.66 kg/ha), P (33.64 kg/ha) and K (295.69 kg/ha) was observed in T35 (D3F3N3). Computation of production economics revealed the B:C ratio to be the highest in D3F3N3 (6.53) which was at par with T31-D3F2N3 (6.35) and T27-D3F1N3 (6.12).EnglishThesis