Acta Scientific Agriculture (ASAG)(ISSN: 2581-365X)

Research Article Volume 5 Issue 2

Effect of Tillage Methods on Soil Properties and the Yield of Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus)

Suleiman AA1*, Yit Arn Teh1, Ella FA2 and Ejeanobi IF3

1School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, Agriculture and Engineering, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK
2Department of Biological Science Education, Federal College of Education (Technical), Umunze, Anambra State, Nigeria
3Department of Agricultural Science Education, Federal College of Education (Technical), Umunze, Anambra State, Nigeria

*Corresponding Author: Suleiman AA, School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, Agriculture and Engineering, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK.

Received: December 05, 2020; Published: January 16, 2021

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Abstract

  Tillage methods as a soil management practice improves crop quality and yield. An experiment was conducted in the 2019 dry season-farming, to evaluate the effect of tillage methods on soil properties and the yield of watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) in the department of Agricultural science education, student demonstration farm; of the Federal College of Education (Technical), Umunze, Anambra State. Nigeria. The experiment consisted of three tillage methods (Ridge, Flat and Bed) with three replicates in a (3 × 1) factorial experiment. Tillage effects of plots under the flat (F) method performed significantly (p < 0.05), with a total number of 40friuts. The Flat (F) tillage method equally produced the highest mean fruit size of (18cm) as compared to bed (B) and the ridge (R) tillage method. Consequently, watermelon fruits under the bed (B) method of tillage had the highest mean fruit weight of (6.2kg), which was significantly different from mean weight obtained under the flat (F) and the ridge (R) methods of tillage. Planting on the flat (F) produced significantly higher number of fruits and size compared to planting on the bed and ridge. Therefore, both the flat and the bed methods of tillage has the potential for watermelon production in terms of number of fruits, fruit size and weight respectively in the study area.

Keywords: Tillage Methods; Ridge (R); Flat (F); Bed (B)

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Citation

Citation: Suleiman AA., et al. “Effect of Tillage Methods on Soil Properties and the Yield of Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus)". Acta Scientific Agriculture 5.2 (2021): 18-23.




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