Assessment of Morpho-biochemical Traits in Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) Cultivars Across Staggered Sowing Intervals Under the Agro-climatic Conditions of Assam, India

An experiment was conducted in the Experimental Farm, Department of Horticulture, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat to study the effect of time of sowing on growth, yield and quality of the fruit and standardize the optimum time of sowing in watermelon.

The experiment was laid out in Factorial Randomised Block Design with two varieties- Saraswati (V1) and Kiran (V2) and five different time of sowing- October(M1), November (M2), December (M3), January (M4) and February (M5). Observations on growth, yield and quality parameters were recorded at 60, 90 and 120 days after sowing.

Results revealed that the variety Kiran sown in November recorded significantly the highest female flowers per plant (11.33), fruit set percentage (27.98 %) and fruit retention percentage (44.04 %). In addition this treatment combination was also able to register the maximum number of fruits per plant (2.67), fruit weight (4.32 kilogram), yield per plant (9.77 kilogram), yield per ha (44.58 tonnes), Total Soluble Solids (9.97 0 Brix), total sugar (9.12 %) and ascorbic acid (7.03 milligram per 100 gram).

Thus, it may be inferred that watermelon variety Kiran sown in the month of November was the best treatment combination in terms of yield and yield attributing parameters and quality parameters as well.